Fragments
by Anonselene
Summary: Challenge fic. Post-war. How is it that Hermione and Severus can stand each other after all that's happened? A tale of how two seemingly different people could somehow come together as one...
1. Haunted

_Haunted_

His face still haunted her mind.

She remembered watching him lie on the ground, writhing in pain as the venom poured through his system. She remembered hating him, wanting nothing more than for that man to die for what he'd done to Dumbledore, to them all. She wanted him to suffer. She had refused to do anything to help him. Sure, she could have halted the venom enough so Madam Pomfrey could save him, but why would she want to? He was a murderer.

When Harry had later told her about the memories Snape had passed on to him, her heart had dropped, sorrow clutching at her stomach as she realized that she had become a murderer too. She could have done something. She could have tried to save him, but no. She let Severus Snape, a courageous, innocent man, die.

At least, that's what Hermione had thought until his body had been removed from the Shrieking Shack, a body that still had a pulse... She had shuddered to herself, thanking Merlin that Snape had possessed the foresight to realize that his pseudo-master would undoubtably betray him. She was relived to know that Snape had worked for months to create a coma-inducing spell, one that would allow his body to be almost petrified until the wizarding world could cure him.

On the one hand, a great weight had been lifted off of the young witch's shoulders. He was alive. He was in rehabilitation, and he would be for many months, but he was alive. She hadn't killed him.

But she had meant to. She had been glad that an evil presence was being taken out of this world, glad that he would get what he deserved. He would have died because of her.

And so, his face haunted her mind.

* * *

So I decided to combine two different challenges over on the HPFCF. I used pieces from the 100 Drabbles/Oneshots Challenge and the 100 Prompts. The reason I combined them was because it felt really redundant to do, more or less, the same challenge twice. I'm not just doing snippets for this; I'm going to be telling an overall story. Because of this, I needed for the prompts to fit the direction in which I wanted it to go. And so I combined the two challenges.

Something important: Severus is still alive, and the pairing says he will be with Hermione, so obviously this is not completely canon. Except for this change, I've stuck as well to canon as possible with one exception: Fred is alive as well. The hundred chapters will take place over a thirty year time span.

Anyway, I hope that you like this. The next chapter will be slightly longer and should be up fairly soon. So please, do me a favor and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... I Love it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	2. Clock

_Clock_

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. _

Severus Snape sat in silence, listening to the sounds of clock ticking as he waited inside the Healer's office. He was alone, but Severus still couldn't help but scowl at the empty air in front of him. This was a waste of his time. He had things to do, so why was he lounging about inside an empty office as he waited for a dilatory Healer?

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._

Absentmindedly, Severus reached up to rub his thumb over the scar on his neck where Nagini had bitten him. He mentally cursed the wretched snake. Because of the vile creature, he had spent two months unconscious, his body having the venom forcibly removed from it through a painful draining process. Following his awakening, he'd needed another six months in rehabilitation at St. Mungo's as his muscles healed from disuse and the damage Nagini had caused.

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._

Now, finally, he was feeling more like himself. He could once more walk without a cane, lift a heavy cauldron, tie his own shoes... He had even managed to regain his old physique back, his arms and legs having some definition to them once more, his body no longer being the frail skinny frame from his rehabilitation. Yes, he was better. And today was the day he would be leaving this blasted place.

At least, he would if the Healer would actually step into her office.

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._

Maybe if he was just going to return to his house to open a bottle of firewhiskey, the Healer's tardiness would not be such a big deal. But no. He needed to meet with Minerva to discuss the upcoming school year. He would be resuming his post as Potions master once more. He may not have been particularly fond of his job, but he needed to make a living somehow, and he doubted he'd be able to find a career elsewhere. Most people didn't enjoy hiring ex-spies to work for them.

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._

He was tempted to pull out his wand and blast the clock to pieces. Why must it be one that made noise? Didn't they realize how incessantly grating it was on the ears? But it wasn't just the noise that bothered him about the clock, he knew.

No, to him, the clock was a reminder. A reminder of how long he had spent pining over Lily, only to realize after Harry had defeated Voldemort that he could finally move on. A reminder over how long he'd participated in the evil debauchery of the Dark Lord. A reminder of how much longer he would have to live alone.

No, he didn't like the clock at all.

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick._

* * *

So here's the next chapter, done from Snape's point of view. Just a quick note: the prompt will always be listed in italics at the top of the page. Hope that makes things easier for you!

Thank you to my reviewers from the last chapter: Anabelle, Noona1, Invierna, hiphophottie, and notwritten. I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I hope that you like this. The next chapter will be slightly longer and should be up fairly soon. So please, do me a favor and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... I Love it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	3. Stare

_Stare_

"Gin and tonic, please," Hermione said, ordering from the long haired muggle bartender in front of her. Tilting her head back, she cracked her neck, sighing as she ran a hand through her bushy curls. She had recently applied to a special wizarding school in order to become a Healer. While she didn't mind the work and certainly loved the results, she definitely had long many days that required a drink afterwards.

"Here you are, miss," the bartender said, sliding the drink across the table to her.

"Thank you," she said, nodding her head to him. With a sigh, she grabbed the drink in her hand and took a sip, letting the alcohol burn down her throat. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

She felt his gaze before she saw him. After living in a war zone for over a year, she'd gotten exceptionally good at determining when she was being watched. Slowly, she looked up, tilting her head to the right as she looked for the perpetrator.

To her utter surprise, she found Severus Snape staring back at her.

Her mouth dropped open as he nodded to her, lifting his drink in her direction in a silent "cheers" before taking a large swig of the drink himself. Hermione's mind reeled as she processed the information. What was going on? Should she leave? Stay? Approach him?

It was the latter that she finally decided on, standing abruptly and moving across the room to sit beside him. All the while, his stare was firmly on her. "Hello, professor," she said as casually as she possibly could under the circumstances. Maybe now, she'd finally get to cleanse her soul and apologize for what she'd done to him. "How are you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Are you really going to exchange pleasantries with me, Miss Granger?"

She bit her lip, wounded by his words. Though in truth, why should she have expected any less? After all, he had seen her that day in the Shrieking Shack over a year ago. He knew she'd tried to kill him. She sighed. "What _are_ you doing here, anyway? This is a muggle bar, you know."

He smirked at her as he knocked back his glass, downing the remaining liquid there in one gulp. "I find there are many more types of alcohol here. Firewhiskey can be so dull," he explained.

Somehow, she wasn't surprised.

"And what about you, Miss Granger?" Severus asked, seemingly amused. "Social etiquette insists that I must ask you the same insipid question now. So what _are,_" he drawled, mocking her inflections. "You doing here?"

She shrugged, swishing the liquid around in her glass. "I suppose I like to feel reminded of muggle life," she explained. "It helps me to appreciate muggles, and magic, and all our lives are and theirs aren't." She took a deep breath, looking up into his eyes. "And how fragile life really is."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "What _are_ you blabbering on about, Granger?"

"I... I'm sorry," she blurted, keeping her eyes on the glass in her hands. "About that day... The day of the battle. I should have done something, I should have... tried, at least, to save you. But I didn't, and-"

"Oh do stop whining, Miss Granger," he said, causing her eyes to snap up to his face. "If I blamed you for that unfortunate incident, do you really think you'd still be alive?"

Her eyes widened. "But-"

"The only person of blame," he continued, as if he hadn't heard her. "Is rather dead right now. This is particularly unfortunate, seeing as I therefore cannot do the honor and kill him myself." He set his glass down, his eyes still locked on her own. "Alas. Maybe he will once again become lucky and be resurrected. Perhaps I shall get my chance then." He stood, setting some money on the bar.

Hermione just watched him, fascinated by his glib attitude as he talked about the most evil man in the world. Seeing her interest, Severus sighed. "And I thought you were supposed to be the brightest witch of your age," he said with a shake of his head. "In case you haven't figured it out by now, Miss Granger, I have forgiven you." He grabbed his coat off of the back of his chair, sliding it neatly onto his shoulders as Hermione continued to watch him in awe. "Perhaps we shall be seeing each other," he threw casually over his shoulder as he stepped through the door and out into the night.

Hermione continued to stare at the door long after he had left, wondering just what had happened.

* * *

Hey everybody! Here's another chapter for you; I really hope that you enjoy it! It's their first interaction after the war, so it's slightly amusing.

Thank you to my reviewers from the last chapter: Blackbeltbrea, EveryShadeOfDeath, heartmom88, hiphophottie, and notwritten. I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this.! So please, do me a favor and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... I Love it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	4. Slide

_Sliding_

The next time Hermione saw him, she was at Harry's nineteenth birthday party. The Weasley family had taken it upon themselves to plan Harry's birthday so that it would make even a king envious, and they succeeded with ease. As two hundred people crowded into a magically enlarged Three Broomsticks, drinking firewhiskey and dancing to the latest WizardRock songs, Hermione saw him across the room.

He sat with his back to her, wearing his large black robes despite the fact that everyone else had donned muggle clothing for the celebration. He was conversing with Professor McGonagall as he drank, something that looked suspiciously like a flask in his hand...

"Hermione!" She blanched as two pale arms were thrown around her waist. Looking down at her attacker, she smiled. "Hello, Luna. How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you," she said. It was only then that Hermione realized she was here with someone. Luna grabbed the man's arm, pulling him over towards Hermione. "This is Rolf Scamander. We're searching for nargles together."

"Well, that's, uh, very nice." She shook the boy's hand. "It's good to meet you."

"Same here."

"Oh, there's Harry," Luna said, a dreamy quality once more overtaking her voice. "Come on Rolf, let's go wish him a happy birthday."

They left her, and Hermione turned around once more, searching desperately for her old potions master's sweeping form amongst the crowd. She wasn't sure why she felt drawn to him. Maybe it was because he had been her teacher. Maybe it was because he had almost died at her hand. Maybe it was because he always looked so desperately alone.

Whatever the reason, Hermione glanced back at the table Severus Snape had previously been sitting at. But he was gone. She sighed, turning around. She vowed to put Snape out of her mind, and to just enjoy the party.

She soon found, however, that this would be incredibly difficult to do, because he had been standing right behind her.

She let out a little shriek, jumping a bit at his sudden appearance. Fred turned and gave her a weird look before he continued dancing, sliding around on the floor. She placed her hand over her heart as he raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh Merlin, you frightened me!"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. How inconsiderate of me. Perhaps next time I'm watching you, I should do it from across the room under the guise of secrecy."

She blushed. "How did you know-"

"You forget that I was a spy, Miss Granger. And if I wasn't very good at being a spy, then I wouldn't be standing here now."

She titled her head to the side, considering. "You can call me Hermione, you know. I'm no longer your student, so you can dispense with the formalities."

"Well then, as long as we are pretending to be civil to one another, I suppose you may call me Severus," he said, rather begrudgingly.

She smiled, glad that she had been given this right. "Well then how are you, Severus?"

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "You can see me, can't you? Obviously I'm not ill, injured, or dying. Otherwise, I wouldn't be wasting my time at the frivolous affair that is Potter's party."

She laughed lightly, surprised that his snarky humor no longer offended her. Maybe because she was no longer his student, she didn't have to try so hard to impress him. "Au contraire, Severus. If you were to be wasting your time at some frivolous party because of injury, it's Harry's you would want to be at. He's much more likely to have an excess stock of liquor." She considered for a moment. "Though it appears that you brought your own tonight," she accused, raising an eyebrow.

He pulled out the flask. "Firewhiskey is so dull, after a while," he said his lips twitching as if he were fighting off a grin.

"I see. So what's in there? Gin?"

"Scotch, actually," Severus corrected. "I find it's the best way to stay sane at these soirées."

To her surprise, she found herself agreeing with him. "There are far too many people around for my liking. It gets overwhelming at times."

"Indeed," Severus said, his eyes shining with amusement. Silence flowed between them, as they watched each other. Hermione was unsure of what to do next. She was enjoying her time with Severus, and she didn't want to say something stupid. She didn't want to drive him away.

Likewise, Severus had found Hermione to be an excellent conversationalist, to his surprise. He had assumed that because she hung out with the Dimwitted Duo, she too would be painful to talk with. But no. For the first time in months, he was actually enjoying himself. And he was pretty sure it wasn't from the scotch. They continued to watch each other, neither willing to make the first move, both wondering who would be the one to break the silence first.

It turned out that the answer was neither. Ginny Weasley broke the silence, throwing her arm around Hermione's waist as she squealed at her friend. "Isn't this marvelous? We really outdid ourselves, you know."

Harry appeared on her other side, chuckling to himself. "Yes you certainly did. I can't believe how many people are here."

"Of course there are so many people here, Harry," Ginny said coyly, batting her eyelashes at her boyfriend. "You're amazing."

The look on Severus' face was priceless. It appeared that he was in a great deal of pain as he watched the exchange happen between the redheaded witch and the Boy-Who-Never-Died. Hermione tried hard not to laugh.

It was then that Harry noticed Severus. "Oh. Hey Professor," he said, feeling slightly awkward. "Glad you could make it."

Severus just glared at the boy. "I have to be going now." He turned back to Hermione, inclining his head ever so slightly. "Hermione."

She smiled back at him. "Perhaps we shall be seeing each other," she said, echoing his last good-bye to her. She saw the subtle twitch of his lips just then, as if he was fighting back a smile, before he left.

"Come on, Hermione," Harry said, tugging her arm. "Dean's trying to teach a bunch of people the Electric Slide, and he needs our help..."

* * *

Thank you to my reviewers from the last chapter! I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this.! So please, do me a favor and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... I Love it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	5. Dark Room

_Dark Room_

"Tea?"

"Yes, thank you."

Almost six weeks after Harry's party found Hermione sitting in Severus' house on Spinner's End. While to the average wizarding outsider, it may have appeared unusual, it had become sort of a ritual that the pair partook in. Three times a week, they would meet for tea, either at her flat or his.

A curious friendship had built up between the two of them. For Severus, it was a chance to talk, to bond with another human being. So often, he spent all of his time curled up in his rooms alone with a bottle of scotch as his only companion. When Hermione visited though, he got a chance for friendship.

For Hermione, she got to learn more about the mysterious spy and all of his quirks. She got to see past the snarky façade that he put on for all of his students, and she got to learn about who he truly was. They would debate politics, discuss texts, muse about magic... It was oddly fun.

Rain currently pounded on the windows, a storm making the murky day rather unpleasant. "So the new school year starts up soon," Hermione said as Severus handed her a cup. "Are you excited to be going back to Hogwarts?"

"Overjoyed," he said dryly.

"Oh, come now. It's not that bad."

Severus leaned back in his chair. "You don't have to teach those utterly incapable of learning. I swear the students just keep getting more asinine with each passing year. Why, some of the new prospects make Longbottom look like a genius."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh really, Severus. It can't be that bad. I remember I rather enjoyed school."

"Yes. You were the only one who did." Severus took a sip of his tea. "If I recall, you enjoyed learning a little _too _much. Always traipsing around with your head in a book, your hand in the air-"

"So I was a little overwhelming," Hermione agreed. "What's wrong with being enthusiastic?"

A smirk twitched on his lips. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Hermione scoffed. "Oh, shut it." She was amazed at how far their friendship had come. Two months ago, if she had told Severus Snape to "shut it," she would have been cursed faster then she could blink. Now, however, he simply rolled his eyes. Lightening crackled in the sky. "You're only saying that because you know you're a-" She was drowned out by another flash of thunder and lightening, the rain pounding on the windows... And then the power went out.

Total blackness met them, and they both sat frozen as they let the darkness settle in. Severus cursed silently. "Damn storm," he muttered. "And my wand is in the kitchen, too."

"Here," Hermione said. "Mine's in my bag by the door. It's closer. Let me just - Ouch!"

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just spilled hot tea on my hand."

Silence. And then, "I hope you didn't get any on my couch. I don't want a big stain."

Hermione scowled, annoyed with his glib response. "I'm fine, thank you."

"You already said that. Excuse me for not asking you twice." He sighed. "Don't move. I'll find your bag and get your wand."

"No, it's fine-"

"I think I know my house better than you do, Hermione. Unless, of course, you've been secretly living here, in which case, feel free to navigate your way to the front door." Hermione stayed silent. "Please, stay where you are. I don't need you to break anything."

Hermione huffed but sat back down, holding her burnt hand to her mouth. She didn't think the burn was so bad. It would probably sting for half an hour, at most. In fact, she could heal it to save herself the discomfort, but to do that, she needed her wand...

She heard a crash from the foyer, and she quickly stood up. "Are you okay?"

Severus cursed as his voice came nearer. "I don't even know why I have an umbrella stand. I apparate everywhere. What the bloody hell do I need an umbrella for?" he muttered as he came closer. He spoke louder. "I have your bag."

"Can you give it to me?"

Silence. Then, "Oh, of course. Let me just light my wand so I can see where you are. Oh, wait."

"There's no need to be sarcastic."

"There is also no need to make ridiculous demands." She heard him tug on the zipper of her bag. "I'll just light your wand myself."

"What? You can't do that!"

"Why not? Do you think me incapable of performing a simple _lumos _spell?"

"It's _my_ bloody wand! And I'm not going to let you-"

"Too late. _Lumos maximus_." Light filled the room, flowing out from the tip of Hermione's wand as the two of them blinked to adjust their eyes. Severus raised an eyebrow at her. "Was that so bad?"

She snatched the wand from him. "Give me that. Honestly."

"I see you _did_, in fact, stain my couch. Don't worry, I'll be sure to send you the bill."

She blinked at him. "It's not my ruddy fault! So why should I have to pay?"

"Well it certainly isn't _my _fault," Severus pointed out. "So following your logic, I shouldn't have to pay either."

She groaned. "You're insufferable!"

"And you're unrelenting. Now do you want to throw some more adjectives around, or find my wand so I can heal your hand?"

She stared at him, her brown eyes meeting his black ones as she thought. "Can you promise me something?" she asked suddenly.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Depends."

"Visit me. When you go back to teaching at Hogwarts. I'll go mad if I don't take the occasional break from studying to be a Healer for tea with you."

He looked at her, long and hard, before nodding. "Yes," he said finally. He liked spending time with Hermione. He wasn't willing to give up his first real friend in years just so he could spend all of his time locked away in Hogwarts. "I'll visit."

* * *

Thank you to my reviewers from the last chapter! I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this.! So please, do me a favor and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... I Love it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	6. Crying

_Crying_

It was almost a year later that things began to change. Hermione wasn't stupid; on the contrary, she was one of the brightest witches of her time. She wasn't naive, either. At twenty, she had seen more than many had in their entire lives. No, she had known that things would change eventually, though she didn't have to be entirely happy about it.

It started with Luna.

Hermione had been spending the weekend at Grimmauld Place with Harry, Ginny, Ron, and the twins. It had been nice to get away from the turmoil of her Healer lessons, and since Severus had been busy grading the past few weeks, she was overjoyed to be able to spend time with her old friends.

But then the knock on the door came. Ever since, Voldemort's death, Harry had released Grimmauld Place from needing a secret-keeper. As a result, most of their friends knew exactly where he lived. So when he heard a knock at the door, he didn't think twice about answering it, and he handed off Teddy Lupin to Ginny before going to the door.

Harry had taken to raising Teddy, though it had been tough at first. He had known nothing about raising a child, and he'd spent the first few months practically living at the Weasley household, begging for Molly's help. Nevertheless, things turned out all right, all things considered.

From the living room, Hermione could hear a sob, followed by Harry's bewildered voice, "What-"

Ron and Hermione exchanged quick glances, before jumping to their feet. Wands drawn, they hurried into the foyer... to see a tear stained Luna Lovegood wrapping her arms around a stunned Harry Potter.

Hermione blinked, surprised by the sight that met her. It was Ron who reacted first. Lowering his wand, he took a step closer to his friend. "Luna," he said, his voice unusually calm. "What happened?"

But she only cried harder, flinging her arms around Ron's neck. Harry took a step back, giving Hermione a helpless look. Neither of them really knew what to do. It was Ginny that spoke next, having followed them out of the living room. "Come on. Let's get her sitting down."

Hermione went to sit in between Fred and George, as Luna and Ron sat on the love seat. Harry took Teddy back from Ginny. Silence filled the room as they all wondered what to do next. To Hermione's surprise, it was Ron that spoke first. "What is it, Luna? What's wrong?"

"He, he b-broke up with m-m-me!" she cried, her hands coming up to cover her blue eyes.

"Who did?" Ron asked, smoothing her hair away from her face.

"Rolf!"

Hermione's eyes widened as she remembered the man she had met at Harry's party. They had seemed so good together, so perfect. Why would he want to leave Luna? What had changed?

"Well that's his loss then, Luna. I mean, you're a wonderful girl. If he can't see that, then he's a bloody idiot. Isn't that right, Harry?" Ron asked, looking sharply at his best friend.

"Yes," Harry said quickly, still in shock over the situation. "Yes, he's right, Luna. You're great."

Hermione and the twins, meanwhile, were sitting in stunned silence. What were the odds? How could it... How did... It was Fred who put what the three of them were thinking into words. "I guess Ron has finally begun to mature." George nodded his agreement as the three of them continued to watch the show.

Yes, things were changing. Luna was heartbroken, and Ron was growing up.

* * *

So here's the next chapter! If you're in the US, then I offer you a very happy Thanksgiving, and I hope that you get the opportunity to eat pie. Because pie is awesome.

Thank you to my reviewers from the last chapter! I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this.! So please, do me a favor and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... I Love it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	7. I have an announcement to make

_"I have an announcement to make!"_

As the winter holidays approached, Hermione seemed to spend more and more time at the Weasley household. Perhaps it was because Molly always had the house smelling like gingerbread, or that tinsel was strung everywhere. Maybe it was her desire to see all of her friends, or her love for the snow that surrounded the Burrow. Maybe it was the small break between the amount of work she did. Either way, she spent an increasing amount of time there come Christmas.

So did the rest of the family. Harry and Ginny dropped by every day. Ron was always around for the food. The twins showed up every now and then to test out their latest idea for the joke shop. Even Bill, Charlie, and Percy came back home for the holidays.

One morning a few days before Christmas, as the Golden Trio, Ginny, and Molly sat around the kitchen table drinking hot apple cider, George burst into the room in a frenzy. "Hello. Is anyone else here?" he asked quickly, throwing his coat onto an empty chair.

Molly frowned. "Bill and Percy are out back. George, what's this-"

But he was already out the back door, calling his elder brothers in. Ron raised an eyebrow, turning to Hermione. "What do you think that's about?"

She shook her head. "No clue."

George came racing back inside, Percy and Bill behind him. The older boys both looked baffled at their brother's frantic behavior. Molly spoke first. "George, what is going on-"

"I have an announcement to make," George interrupted, a small grin appearing on his face. "This morning, I asked Angelina to marry me. And she said yes. I'm engaged!"

"Oh, Merlin, that's wonderful," Molly cried, jumping out of her seat.

"Congratulations," Harry called.

"Oh how amazing," Ginny squealed.

The family continued to wish George well, but all Hermione could manage to do was sit frozen in place, a plastic smile on her face. Things were changing once more. Here was the beginning of the end; her friends were starting to get married. Harry and Ginny would probably be next. Maybe Fred and Katie. And that just left her and...

She had tried to fall in love with Ron, she really had. She knew he had a crush on her, but she couldn't date him. She couldn't speak to him, discuss literature and magic with him the way she had been able to with Remus before he died, or with Severus now. She'd go mad, being his wife. He wasn't right for her.

But that was just the problem. Who was? She was twenty years old and still single. While that in and of itself is not alarming, the fact that she'd found no potential matches was. Was someone that was right for her actually out there? Or would she be doomed to live alone for the rest of her life? Was she doomed to marry Ron?

Despite her happiness for George, a sadness permeated her core. This was the beginning of the end.

* * *

So here's the next chapter!

Thank you to my reviewers from the last chapter! I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this.! So please, do me a favor and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... I Love it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	8. Letter

_Letters_

Severus Snape was not easily amused.

But when Draco Malfoy, the son of Lucius Malfoy, Death Eater extraordinaire, attempted to contact him asking for help post-Christmas, he couldn't help that faint chuckle from escaping him.

_Professor Snape,_

_Please don't burn this. At least not right away. I know I'm not your favorite person right now, but hear me out. I am in trouble. Not the I-just-murdered-someone-oops type of trouble, but more of the the-name-Malfoy-is-now-a-dirty-word-and-thus-no-one-wants-to-aide-me-in-financial-issues kind of trouble._

Severus blinked. He really would have to talk to the boy about using too many hyphens.

_I have a job. It may not be glamorous (bar tending generally never is), but it pays the bills. The only thing it doesn't help to pay are the outstanding debts against my father for murder. As if giving him life in Azkaban wasn't enough; they have to rob us blind as well._

_You know I'm a proud man, Professor. I would not ask your help unless I desperately needed it. I have no one else to turn to. You are my last hope. I know you probably hate me with every fiber of your being. I treated you horribly the last time I saw you, and I deserve any cruelty you may want to bestow upon me. But please. You're my godfather. Please, help me._

_-Draco Malfoy._

Severus paused, putting the tip of his quill to his lips. He wasn't a particularly generous person, however, he was the boy's godfather. That gave him some familial obligations to him. But the last time he had seen Draco, he'd been trying to aide the Dark Lord. Did he really want to go into business with someone so... malicious?

He put his quill to the parchment, scratching off a quick note.

_Draco-_

_How I would love to believe you wouldn't use this money for some nefarious purpose or to fuel an outstanding drug habit. However, I happen to know you too well. I don't know if you can be trusted._

_S. Snape_

A few hours later, as Severus was stirring a headache potion, his reply came. With a sigh, the potions master opened the letter, ready to hear the boy's pleas.

_Professor-_

_I know in the past I've done everything in my power to make you hate me, but I'm not a bad person. Am I easily intimidated? Perhaps. Did my father hold a lot of power over me? Probably. Was I afraid of dying at You-Know-Who's hands? Definitely._

_I can't skimp on anything else, Professor. I'm already living in squalor, eating half what I should and wearing tacky muggle clothing. I need this money. _

_Trust me when I say I've changed. Obviously, being a pureblood means nothing. If it was important, I'd be able to find someone to take me in; I wouldn't have to work at the Hog's Head. You can trust me, because I have absolutely nothing. And no one will even look my way. _

_-Draco Malfoy_

Severus sighed in frustration. This was just bloody great. Lending money was a dirty business, and Severus hated that. But he had liked Narcissa. They had been friends for awhile, and he didn't want to let her down even if she had been in Azkaban for a few years now...

Severus sighed. He had just gotten out of bed with the Malfoys, so to speak. Now it appeared he was about to go back in.

His note was simple.

_Meet me at the Three Broomsticks tomorrow at three. We will talk._

* * *

So here's the next chapter!

Thank you to my reviewers from the last chapter! I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this.! So please, do me a favor and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... I Love it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	9. Sorrow

_Sorrow_

As the weeks passed, Hermione could see that Harry was hurting.

There was just a look in his eyes. When others would joke and laugh, he would pause, almost as if his mind was somewhere else. His smile held a sorrow in it, as if the weight of the world had come to rest itself on his shoulders. He should have been relieved that the war was over, so what was causing the strain?

It took a bit of prodding, but he finally spoke about why he was so grim. "Teddy," he had whispered. "Think of Teddy."

Hermione had smiled softly, rubbing his back with her hand. "You're doing a great job with Teddy, Harry. He's lucky to have you."

"He shouldn't have me, though," Harry protested. "He should have Remus and Tonks. He should have his family, his parents... But they're gone. They died. He's an orphan!"

"Harry," Hermione whispered, wrapping her arms around her anguished friend. It was the parallels between his life and his godson's that were frightening him so much. "He's not an orphan! He has you."

"But I'm just a kid!" he protested. "I'm nineteen. I still get nervous when I talk to Ginny! I don't... I don't know what I'm doing! Raising a child... I can't do that. I have no idea if I am right-"

"No one ever does, Harry."

"But this is a _child_. He's depending on me!"

"I thought things were going well, though," Hermione questioned. "Ginny was helping you. Molly was too-"

"Exactly! Other people. _They_ have been forced to pick up the slack. It's not fair to them. They shouldn't have to suffer because I'm inept-"

"Harry! They aren't suffering. They're your friends. We all are. We're glad to help you. Always have been." She forced him to look at her. "Now you listen up, Harry. You can do this. You _will_ do this. Teddy is going to be just fine. I believe in you. You don't have to do this alone."

She was never sure if her motivational speech had an impact on him or not, though the sorrow seemed to have lessened a lot afterwards. Or maybe the sorrow began to vanish because Ginny told him that she loved him.

She couldn't really tell. But she was going to take all of the credit anyway.

* * *

So here's the next chapter!

Thank you to my reviewers from the last chapter! I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this.! So please, do me a favor and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... I Love it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	10. Wink

_Wink_

Hermione met Severus again at his house in the early spring, this time under a sunny sky. Once again, they sat in his living room, teacups in their hands as they talked.

"...So then Mr. Fisher's cauldron exploded," Severus was explaining, telling a tale from one of his potions classes. "This wasn't surprising. The boy is a complete buffoon. Why, he would mix up salt and sugar if given the chance. I had almost _expected_ for his cauldron to blow-up. But then, Miss Ellens' cauldron bursts. While Fisher might be an idiot, Ellens is not, and I'm ashamed to say that it took me a moment to figure it out."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, did you figure out?"

A smirk crawled across Severus' face as he finished his tale. "The two of them had a bet, you see. A bet on who could blow up their cauldron the fastest."

"No!"

"Oh yes." Severus took a sip of his tea. "Unfortunately for them, I don't allow that sort of impertinent behavior in my classroom, and so they are each currently suffering through a months detention."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Only you could uncover some nefarious plot in a class filled with a bunch of first years."

"It was relatively simple to figure out," Severus said, setting his cup on the table before him. "No, in comparison to some of the schemes the Weasley twins had cooked up, this was downright childish."

Hermione laughed. "Well, they're finally starting to grow up. Or George is, at least."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Really? And how is that?"

"You haven't heard? He's getting married this weekend. To Angelina Johnson, as a matter of fact."

Severus shook his head. "That poor girl."

"Oh, hush," Hermione laughed, setting her cup down on the table as well. "I think the two of them are rather cute together."

"That is perhaps the most overused cliché by females in the history of mankind," Severus said with a roll of his eyes.

"And what is the most overused cliché by males, then?"

"Do I look like I frequently utilize clichés? No, I wouldn't have the faintest idea what it would be, though I can assure you it has something to do with sex," Severus said, tilting his head to the side.

Hermione laughed again. It was so lovely to be able to see him again. What with his job, they really hadn't been able to meet for tea as often as she would have liked, so this was a real treat for her. She didn't want it to end. "Hey," she said suddenly as a thought struck her. "Come with me."

"I beg your pardon?"

"To the wedding. Come with me."

Severus scoffed. "My dear, I wasn't important enough to be even _considered _for the guest list, much less invited."

"So? You can come with me. They said I could bring a guest, though in all honesty I think they only did so because they figured I'd have no one to bring," she admitted. George had kept dropping hints to her, saying how she and Ron should pick out their dress robes together. "But who cares? Come with me."

Severus frowned. "You want to drag me to a Weasley wedding? Are you trying to kill me?"

But Hermione just held up a finger, indicating a point she was about to make. "There's an open bar."

A pause, and then, "Are you sure it's wise? Won't you bringing me cause trouble?"

Hermione shrugged. "So? You could go as my date. It will be fun. We can worry everyone. Come on, what do you say?"

Severus Snape was very conflicted. On the one hand, this was a Weasley wedding. In other words, it was to be avoided _at all costs_. But on the other hand... He liked spending time with his, dare he say it, friend Hermione. They had fun together, sharing banter and stories about their lives and their pasts. She was entertaining, and he therefore loved to visit her. If she wanted him to go... He sighed. "When is it, again?"

Hermione smiled, knowing she had won. "This Saturday. I'll come pick you up-" She was interrupted by a heavy pounding on the door. Her eyes widened. "What-"

But Severus just sighed. "I'd recognize that bloody knock anywhere," he muttered as he left the room. "I'll be back!" he called over his shoulder. Hermione sat frozen, slightly amused over Severus' reaction to the knock, and also partly curious as to who it could be.

She heard the door open, and Severus growl out, "What do you want?" A low voice answered, one whose words she couldn't understand. Severus answered. "I'm busy."

"Please," she heard this time, the voice distinctly male and sounding strangely familiar.

"Not right n- Hey!" Hermione looked up in time to see Draco Malfoy push his way through the hallway and into the living room, coming to a sudden stop upon seeing her. Severus grabbed his arm, jerking him around. "What part of 'no' do you not understand, boy?" he snapped.

Malfoy ignored him, though. "What is _she _doing here?"

"Why, can't you see?" Severus said, his tone light and airy, as if he was having a casual conversation. "The two of us are madly in love and have just finished having a few rounds of hot, sweaty sex, so if you don't mind..."

A faint blush grew on Hermione's cheeks. She knew Severus was just mocking Malfoy, but that didn't make the topic any less personal. She was a virgin and proud of it, and she didn't want her sexuality alluded to in front of _Malfoy _of all people.

He slapped Malfoy on the back of the head, his voice growing hard once more. "You imbecile! What right do you have to barge into my house and question my company? It doesn't _matter _why she's here. She doesn't concern you."

"But I need to talk to you-"

"Not now!"

"Oh, let him talk, Severus," Hermione said, waving her hand for the blond boy to continue. "This should be amusing."

Draco blanched. "I'm not going to talk in front of _her!_"

"Then get out!"

Draco bit his bottom lip, as if weighing his options. Did he really wish to speak to Severus that badly?

Apparently, he did, because the next thing Hermione knew, he was pacing up and down the length of the living room, his hands clasped behind his back. "I don't know what to do. If I should talk to her, or if it was a coincidence-"

"If what was a coincidence?" Hermione asked.

But Malfoy just ignored her. "Why would she do that? Was it to send a signal-"

"Who, Malfoy?" Hermione inquired.

But Malfoy still would not speak to her. "Or maybe she was pitying me. Maybe it had nothing to do with-"

"Malfoy, _who_?"

"Maybe it was because-"

"Draco, if you don't answer Hermione's questions and speak to her like a civil human being, then that money you need will be used to pay for your tombstone," Severus threatened, glaring at the young boy.

"But-"

"I personally don't care about any of your problems, Draco. However, it appears that the ever so Gryffindor Hermione does. So you will treat her with respect. Or you can try and find a new benefactor."

Draco stopped walking, giving his godfather an annoyed look before he sighed. "I don't know what to do."

"That much is apparent, Malfoy. What happened?" Hermione asked.

"She winked at me!"

Hermione and Severus exchanged glances, neither really sure what was going on. "What?"

"Astoria! I was working at the Hog's Head, and she came in, ordered a butterbeer in her own glass, drank it, and then bloody winked at me! What on _earth _does that mean?"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Are you telling me that you came in here unannounced, forced your way into my house, ruined my plans, and insulted my friend all so you could receive advice about _some bloody girl?"_

Draco froze. "Um, yes."

"OUT!"

"But Professor-"

"It's simple, Draco," Severus snapped as he began to push the boy towards the door. "Do you like her?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Then ask her out," he said, giving the blond one final push before slamming the door shut behind him. He turned around to find Hermione standing in the entrance to the foyer, a small smile on her lips. Severus shook his head. "Daft fool. He almost makes Potter look bright."

Hermione laughed, reaching out with her hand to pull him back towards the living room.

* * *

So here's the next chapter!

Thank you to my reviewers from the last chapter! I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this.! So please, do me a favor and RER: Read it, Enjoy it, Review it... I Love it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	11. Bridge

_Bridge_

The wedding was a grand affair. It was held in a park by a creek, the sun shinning down onto the clear water. George and Angelina were literally married upon a little bridge that extended over the creek, with their guests looking onward.

Severus had been increasingly uncomfortable from the start. It was obvious that he didn't belong, and that he was merely being tolerated as a guest to Hermione. However, like a good friend, the vivacious brunette stayed with him at all times, even linking her arm through his at one point to drag him away from a drunken ministry worker.

"Thank you," Severus said once they were far enough away. "He was starting to get hostile."

"Not a problem," Hermione said, scanning the crowd. "In truth, I should be thanking you. You're the only reason Ron's Aunt Muriel hasn't come to blather in my ear about useless nonsense, yet. I'm not leaving your side."

"Well then it will be just the two of us for the whole evening. The rest of the party seems to feel that I'm carrying leprosy," Severus sneered. He'd never cared much for the Weasley's, and their rude friends just gave him another excuse to look down on them.

Hermione just laughed. "Well in that case, I'll have you all to myself. Thank goodness for that. With you at Hogwarts all the time, I never see you."

"You should apply for a teaching job," Severus said, giving her a glance. "Merlin knows you're over qualified."

But she just shook her head. "You _know_ I want to be a Healer. Teaching wouldn't be as interesting."

"I agree with you there," he muttered before reaching into his robes and pulling out a flask. Hermione rolled her eyes. "What? It's necessary. I fear I have become immune to firewhiskey's effects." He took a swig.

"Perhaps it's because you drink so often. Scotch?"

"Gin, actually."

"Hand it over then." Severus chuckled as he gave her the flask. "Oh, shut it." She took a drink. "Why is it that whenever we go to one of these parties, we always end up drinking together?"

"Because we are forced to encounter extremely dull people, and we need to be slightly intoxicated in order to talk to them without feeling the need to cast a stunner in their direction," Severus explained with a twitch of his lips.

"Oh, of course."

Suddenly, his face darkened. "Here comes trouble," he muttered. Hermione turned, glancing behind her. Harry was coming towards them with Ginny on his arm.

When Hermione had arrived at the wedding with Severus Snape of all people... Well, things got a little hectic. Ron, for one, was absolutely horrified. After pulling her aside and telling her what a failure she was as a Gryffindor, he had refused to speak to her for the rest of the evening. Ginny had just looked amused, while Harry, Fred, and George had each taken on various expressions of shock.

"Be nice," she murmured to him. He rolled his eyes as she plastered a smile on her face. "Hello Harry, Ginny. Having fun?"

"Loads," Harry said, nodding in Severus' direction. "I think the twins are planning to launch their new line of fireworks sometime tonight as a product plug. It should be interesting."

"You'll have to tell me how it goes."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Are you leaving?"

Hermione glanced at Severus. Though he hadn't actually stated his discomfort, she knew that he wanted nothing more than to leave the party and go get a cup of tea. He wasn't one for ruckus and fanfare; that's one of the things that made them so alike. "In a little bit," she said at last, feeling Severus relax slightly beside her.

"Hermione, can I talk to you for a moment?" Ginny asked suddenly, reaching forward to grab her friend's' arm.

"Oh, um... Are you going to be all right, Severus?"

Clearly, the answer was no, if the slightly panicked expression on his face was anything to go by. Nevertheless, he nodded politely and said, "Of course. Go on."

Hermione frowned. "Don't worry, I'll be right back." She gave Severus and Harry one last look before following the redhead. Ginny led her off to the side, right besides the bridge that her brother had been married on. She made sure they were a good distance away from the party before coming to a stop. "What's this about, Ginny?"

Her friend's eyes were shinning with amusement as she asked, "So... What's going on with you and Snape?"

Hermione sighed. _Of course_ she was about to be lectured about the flask. "It was just one drink, Ginny. We aren't tipsy yet, don't worry."

"I don't mean that," she said, a small smirk forming on her features. "I'm talking about your romantic intentions towards him."

Despite how cliché it was, Hermione couldn't stop her mouth from tumbling open in shock. "_What_?"

"You heard me."

"Clearly I didn't, because I thought you said I had romantic intentions-"

"Towards Snape. Exactly." Ginny tossed her curly locks over her shoulder. "Which you obviously do."

"I do not!"

"You invited him to a wedding. You meet up with him for tea weekly. You share drinks with him," she listed.

"We're friends!"

"For anyone else that might be friendship, but this is Snape we're talking about. For him to be doing this with you, there must be some kind of a romantic connection," Ginny pointed out. "Otherwise he wouldn't bother."

Hermione shook her head. "You're daft."

"And you're in denial."

"We're just bloody friends, Ginny," Hermione cried in exasperation. "I don't know what would give you the idea that we were anything else."

"How about the fact that you won't leave his side?"

"Well I hardly want to end up in a conversation with your Aunt Muriel, you know," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Merlin, Ginny! Severus and I... He's twice my age!"

"Actually, he's only nineteen years older than you. That's hardly twice your age." Hermione shot the redhead a look. "What? I just thought I'd point that out."

"You aren't at all bothered by the vast age difference?"

"Love is love."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "We are not in-"

But Ginny just shrugged. "Fine then. Whatever you say."

Hermione studied her for a moment, disbelief in her eyes. "You don't believe me."

Ginny gave her a knowing look, but avoided the question. "You should probably head back. Wouldn't want to keep dear old Severus waiting, now would you?"

Hermione rolled her eyes but made her way back to Severus, anyway. Harry had abandoned him, and Hermione could tell that an uncomfortable feeling was slowly taking over him. She grabbed his arm, making him turn towards her. "Why don't we go?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "But you haven't danced yet."

"So?"

"So all you talked about on the way over here was the dancing. That's why you love weddings."

She couldn't help but smile to herself, pleased that he had been listening. "Well, it doesn't matter. You're unhappy. Come back to my place. We can have tea."

To her surprise, Severus shook his head. "You have to dance at least one song first," he said, grabbing her by the hand. "I'm not going to feel guilty because I ruined the occasion for you. Though since I do desperately want to leave this little bit of hell, I'm afraid that you are stuck with me as your dance partner."

Hermione laughed, allowing herself to be drawn out onto the dance floor. "All right then."

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer to him, putting his hands on her waist. She smiled up at him, his deep black eyes connecting with her brown ones... And suddenly, the world melted away.

The two of them were alone in time, twirling together for what seemed like eternity. He was watching her. His face, his generally hard, schooled features were softened into the teasing expression he normally wore around her. She could barely make out the lines on his forehead, the ones that only appeared when he was being the caring man she had learned he could be. He was suffering through this for her. He was entertaining her. He was everything.

_Oh Merlin_, she thought as the realization struck her. _Ginny was right. I really am falling for Severus._

This was not good.

The song ended and he pulled back, an amused smile on his face as he tilted his head in her direction. "Well, I don't know about you, but I've seen enough red hair and pink lace to last a lifetime. Are you ready to leave?"

All Hermione could do was nod as she took his hand, apparating them back to her house for tea, wondering what on earth she was going to do now.

* * *

Merry Christmas! Or, if you don't celebrate Christmas, aka the-day-during-which-we-are-allowed-to-receive-presents-and-thank-someone-who-doesn't-exist-for-them-thereby-not-writing-thank-you-notes day, then happy December 25th.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it!

-Selene


	12. Hit by an Object

_Hit By An Object_

Summer soon arrived again, and Hermione began to spend more time at Grimmauld Place. Every now and then, Severus would meet her there, staying just long enough to sullenly greet Harry before he whisked her off for tea.

She had keep quiet about her feelings for him, though she'd found that once she'd acknowledged them, they had grown exponentially. It seemed that everything he did, she noticed. Every gesture, every look...

She felt like a schoolgirl with a crush, and she did _not_ like that.

She knew he still viewed her as one of his only friends, though. The way he talked to her, looked at her... It was the same way as he always had. Nothing had changed. They were still just friends.

Hermione wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that. On the one hand, their friendship was solid, and a relationship between the two of them would probably never work out, anyway. He was so much older than her, and he was so closed-off from the world...

But then she'd make him smile, and she knew that she wanted to try, at the very least. He was such an amazing person...

In the middle of August, Hermione answered the door to Grimmauld Place with Harry on one side of her and Ginny on the other. They were expecting to see Severus, there to meet her for dinner at The Three Broomsticks. And he was there.

But so was Draco Malfoy.

"What..." Hermione trailed of, unsure of what to make of this new development.

Severus sighed. "This idiot," he emphasized his point by hitting Draco on the back of the head. "Saw me in Flourish and Blotts, and demanded that I take him to you. When I refused and attempted to apparate away, he accosted me, grabbing my cloak and forcing me into side-along apparation." He raised an eyebrow. "Since you are the one he's trying so desperately to see, perhaps you should be the one to decide what to do with him. Though, you should know, I'll happily curse him_ for_ you."

"We'll see if that's necessary. What do you want, Malfoy?"

"I need to talk to you."

"So I've gathered," she said with a roll of her eyes. "What about?"

"About..." he looked back at Harry and Ginny, still standing in the doorway. "What we discussed last time."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Last I checked, you were the one who did all of the talking. In fact, wasn't _I_ the one to give you advice in the end?"

"You'd rather I bother you?"

"Well it appears that my wishes don't mean a thing since you did anyway!" Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, and he sighed. "Continue."

"You're a girl," Draco said slowly, as if he was trying to not offend her. "And you know the situation. Please."

Hermione paused before glancing over her shoulder at Harry and Ginny. "Is it all right if he comes inside?"

Harry blanched. "Surely you're kidding."

"Nope." She nodded toward Draco. "Inside, Malfoy."

He entered Grimmauld Place slowly, looking around as if searching for hidden dangers. Severus came into the house behind him. "I can't believe you're talking to him," he muttered.

"I can't believe you're surprised. I'm a Gryffindor. It's in my nature to help people," she countered quietly, before addressing Malfoy once more. "All right then. What's going on?"

He gave her an incredulous look. "Are you daft? I'm not telling you in front of Potter and the Weaslette!"

Harry opened his mouth, anger etched onto his features, but Severus spoke first. "Why won't you tell them? Are you embarrassed that you like Astoria Greengrass and you don't know what to do about it?"

Draco glared at his godfather. "That was cruel."

"I try." Severus paused. "Did you finally ask her out?"

Seeing that Harry and Ginny weren't planning on leaving anytime soon, Draco reluctantly nodded. "It took me a few months, but I did. We got tea at this great place I know in muggle London and we really hit it off..."

Hermione gestured for him to go on. "But..."

He sighed. "But she hasn't written me back yet. I sent her an owl about a second date, but nothing happened."

Harry burst out laughing. "Who would have thought precious Malfoy would need relationship advice?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, but Hermione pointed towards the next room. "Out!"

"But-"

"No buts, Harry. Your lack of wit is not needed at the moment. Ginny, take him to the kitchen." Severus let out a bark of laughter as Ginny dragged a sulking Harry down the hall. Hermione waited until they had left the room before she turned back to Draco.

"Was it a reliable owl?"

"Very."

"Was your note polite?"

"Exceptionally."

"When did you send it?"

"Yesterday."

There was a pause, during which Hermione and Severus exchanged glances before they began shouting simultaneously. "You idiot!" Hermione berated.

"It's been a day. That's all!"

"Why are you worrying?"

"She probably hasn't had time to respond yet!" Severus pointed out. "I can't believe you bothered me for this!"

"I can't believe you're so daft," Hermione said. She grabbed a book off a nearby table and chucked it at his head.

"Ow!"

"Study, Malfoy! Study the world around you and the way it works, because obviously you haven't got a clue! A day. Honestly... It probably hasn't even been a full day yet! You have no patience, and that's going to get you in trouble, you know! I can't believe you..."

It was as Severus was watching the spirited woman in front of him that he realized how fond he had grown of her over the past year. She was stubborn and argumentative, but she was also charming. She cared about others, and always did her best to accommodate them. She had grown from the awkward child she once was to a modest young lady who was extremely well put together. They had become good friends, and he couldn't imagine his life without her.

Just as Draco had been hit by the book Hermione had thrown, Severus was hit with the realization that perhaps he had grown a little _too_ fond of her.

_Merlin _he thought. _This can't be healthy._

* * *

Sorry for taking so long to update! Within the past two weeks, I've filled out _six_ college applications... And I'm still not done! For those of you who read Collide, I'm halfway through the first chapter, and I'll post it as soon as I have time, but since colleges have deadlines... I kind of have to finish those first.

Sorry again for taking so long! And thank you all for sticking with this story!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it!

-Selene


	13. Waiting

_Waiting_

A few days after she turned twenty-one, Hermione was called over to Grimmauld Place by a nervous Ginny. She could tell that the younger girl was worried, her voice shaking as she greeted her friend. She quirked her eyebrow upon arrival, giving the redhead a curious look. "What's the matter?"

The pacing girl looked up sharply. "How did you know something was wrong?"

"You're kidding, right? You wouldn't demand that I leave my studies unless it was urgent. So what's wrong? Is anyone hurt?"

She shook her head. "No... But I'm late."

Hermione blinked. "And so you called my over to lament about missing an appointment-"

"Not like that," Ginny hissed. "I mean _I'm late_."

It took Hermione a second to realize what this meant. She was, after all, still a virgin, and she'd never encountered this sort of situation before. However, when the epiphany struck her, her eyes grew wide as her hand flew up to cover her mouth. "Oh my... You and Harry have had sex?"

Ginny scoffed, throwing her hands up. "We've been dating for almost two bloody years, now. Of _course_ we've had sex!"

"Well then surely by now you know about contraception-"

"I don't need a lecture, Hermione!" Ginny snapped, tears filling her eyes. "What I need is support... And a pregnancy test."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You don't know the spell?"

"Hermione, I'm not the one studying to be a Healer!" Ginny shot back. "Please. Help me."

Hermione sighed, glancing around the living room. "Where's Harry?"

"Out with Ron. They're doing some Auror training, or something. Please, I need to find out! I can't wait any longer!"

She nodded. "All right, then. Take a seat." Ginny perched nervously on the edge of the couch, her hands clasped tightly together. "This shouldn't hurt. It might feel a bit weird, but you need to stay still, okay?" The redhead nodded. Hermione took a deep breath before waving her wand. "_Enceinte._" A golden flash of light shot out of her wand, engulfing Ginny for a moment before turning a light blue. The color held for a second before fading completely.

"Well?" Ginny asked, biting on her lip.

"Not pregnant."

A sigh of relief escaped Ginny, and in a moment, that sigh had turned into a sob. Hermione wrapped her arms around her friend, her mind racing. "Are you going to tell Harry?"

"No! No, I can't! You know him, he'll get too worried..." And she began to cry once more.

Hermione continued to think. The decisions she made, the things she did, had the potential to shape her life. Here was one of her best friends whose entire life could have been altered by one choice. One thing. What if her life was so easily altered? What if she made a decision that could change everything?

An ominous foreboding built up in the air as Hermione shuddered, her arms still around Ginny.

* * *

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it!

-Selene


	14. Will Somebody Please Tell Me What is Goi

_Will somebody please tell me what is going on?_

"You look absolutely terrible."

Hermione scowled as she pulled the teapot from her cupboard. "Thank you so much!"

Severus rolled his eyes, stepping closer to her. "No, I mean you look as if you haven't seen the light of day in years," he amended, examining the dark circles under her eyes. "Are you all right?"

She smiled softly. Little did he know that she was ecstatic to have him here with her in her kitchen. "Just a little tired. I spent the last three hours studying for the start of term exam."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "You want to establish your place as head of the class early on, do you?"

"Hush, will you? I have a year and three months left in my training! It's important that I- What are you doing?" Hermione asked as Severus grabbed the teapot from her hands.

"I think something a little stronger is in order, don't you?" he said, removing a flask from his robes.

She tilted her head to the side. "Gin?"

"Scotch."

She shook her head as Severus conjured up two glasses. "I'm never right. How is that? It's always either gin or scotch with you, but I never guess correctly!"

Severus smirked as he poured her a glass. "I live to annoy you."

"So it would appear," she said, accepting the glass. "It would also appear to any outsider that all we do is drink." She took a big gulp of the liquor, coughing a bit as it slid down her throat. "We must look like raging alcoholics."

"Anyone who believes a perfect citizen like you to be an alcoholic is completely daft," Severus said, sitting down on one of Hermione's barstools. He was completely happy here with her. She was absolutely amazing, and he wanted nothing more than to continue to be around her intoxicating presence. "You're too much of a good girl to even contemplate getting drunk, let alone do it."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she sat next to him. "And I suppose you're the bad boy who knows how to drink and have a good time."

His mouth twitched as he topped off their glasses. "Obviously. I'm a regular party animal. Why, didn't you see me dancing on the tables at Weasley's wedding?"

Hermione laughed, leaning unconsciously towards him. "The day you dance on a table is the day I profess my undying love for Hagrid."

"Hm... That _would_ be interesting to witness. Maybe I should dance on a table or two," he said, his hand drifting closer to hers.

"You're a cruel man."

"Oh, you sound like Malfoy."

"You mean I sound arrogant and selfish?" she muttered, leaning in a bit more, her brown eyes locked on his deep black ones. His stare was enticing, and she could feel their bodies moving closer...

"No. You sound cunning and... lovely," he whispered, closing the distance between their mouths. He kissed her hard, his hand drifting up to graze her cheek as she responded, opening her mouth to him. Suddenly, he pulled back, giving her a wide-eyed look of shock and fear.

Silence hung in the kitchen, as neither was really sure what had happened. Hermione was the first to speak. "Please tell me you weren't comparing me to Malfoy then, too."

A slight chuckle escaped Severus' mouth as the tension broke. "No," he said, leaning back in his chair and taking a swig from his glass. He studied her, looking for signs of fear. "But we should probably talk."

Hermione nodded. "Probably."

"You might have had a little too much to drink-"

But Hermione was already shaking her head. "Oh don't even go there, Severus. You and I both know my limit, and I'm not anywhere near it. We can't blame alcohol for this one. We kissed."

"I know."

"We meant to."

Severus sighed. "I know."

Hermione bit her lip, worry filling her core. "You don't look happy about it."

"Of course I'm not happy," Severus snapped, slamming his glass down on the counter. "This isn't right. I shouldn't have forced myself on you-"

"You didn't," Hermione murmured, looking him in the eyes. "You really didn't, Severus."

Severus blinked, surprised by her admission. Did she... Did she want him to kiss her? Did she enjoy it? Did she like him in that way? The thought that maybe his feelings for her were reciprocated brought joy to him... But in a second, reality came crashing back down. "Where is this going to go, Hermione? I'm almost twice your age-"

"First of all, you're nineteen years older than me. I'm twenty-one. That's hardly twice my age," she said, remembering what Ginny had told her all those months ago. "And secondly, you do realize that our kind can live for almost two hundred years, right? Look at Dumbledore! He lived for a long time! He would have lived longer, if not for the Horcrux. In that time span, nineteen years is nothing." She reached forward, taking his hand. "This could work if we wanted it to."

He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. "I... I don't want to force you into-"

"Didn't you hear me? You aren't, Severus. Truly, you aren't." Despite her reassurance, he still looked doubtful. Hermione bit her lip once more. "You know... It doesn't have to be a serious relationship. It can just be... something for fun."

But Severus was already shaking his head. "Don't you get it? It _would _have to be a serious relationship. I don't do flings, friends with benefits... That's not how am I."

She raised an eyebrow. "One night stands?"

Despite how solemn the conversation was, Severus couldn't help but smirk. "Well... I do those. But this wouldn't be that. This would have to be something more. You would have to be all in, Hermione, because I don't play around anymore. I'm not in this for fun. Any relationship I might have would be to last, not to experiment. Do you want that?"

She was generally a careful person, always thinking things through, weighing the pros and cons, and making lists to help her decide. But she didn't even pause, answering immediately. "Yes."

He frowned. "You didn't even think-"

"Yes."

"But surely you must want to-"

"No."

"Bloody hell! You can't just answer without thinking things through-"

"Severus," she interrupted, grabbing his hand. "I want this. I want you."

Her eyes were so big, so sincere, that he knew she'd made up her mind. For some reason, this amazing witch wanted him. Merlin knew why. But Severus wasn't the type to complain when things were going his way. He didn't question it, didn't ask what she saw in him. Instead, he leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. "Are you sure? Because there is no turning back from here. What happens will change everything between us forever."

"I'm sure."

He kissed her, bringing his soft lips down on her own as her hand travelled up to twine in his hair. Her mouth once again opened to him, and this time he took the invitation, running his tongue lightly along the bottom of her lip before deepening the kiss. Oh she tasted wonderful-

"Whoa!"

They sprang apart, turning in shock to see a wide-eyed, grinning Ginny Weasley standing in the doorway. Hermione sputtered. "What... How the bloody hell did you get in here?"

"You gave me a key a couple of months ago," Ginny said, a note of amusement in her voice. "I came to see if you wanted to grab dinner. I guess not."

Hermione groaned. "Why didn't you knock?"

"Well, I didn't think you'd have snuck a boy, no excuse me, a _man _in here. My mistake. Will somebody please tell me what is going on?"

"Oh, shut it, Ginny. You know very well what was occurring."

Hermione could see the tips of Severus' ears turn pink as he scowled at the youngest Weasley. "You will do your best to keep this a secret, Miss Weasley. And for your sake, I better not hear any clever euphemisms as to what has transpired here tonight."

"Of course, Professor," she said, a small smile on her face. "Well then. I should probably go."

"Yes, you should," Hermione agreed.

Ginny turned, walking towards the foyer before she stopped. "Oh, and Hermione?"

"What?"

She turned back, grinning at the brunette. "I told you so."

* * *

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it!

-Selene


	15. You Don't Have to Leave

_You don't have to leave._

They decided to keep their relationship a secret, feeling there was no need to freak out the entire wizarding world if they weren't going to last. Obviously if things went well, they'd be telling the population, but for now... Silence was best.

This didn't mean their relationship had turned into a giant secret that made it harder for them to spend time together, though. No, if anything they just used the friendship everyone knew they had garnered as an excuse in order to spend an even greater surplus of time together.

It was actually working out rather well.

Severus _did_, however, require that they take things slow. He knew Hermione prided herself on her purity, and he wouldn't be the one to take something so precious away from her without giving her an ample amount of time to think about it first. While this did leave him physically frustrated, he was overall happy with the situation.

Hermione was as well, which was apparent to Ginny as the two girls sat with Harry in Grimmauld Place one afternoon in December. She had a twinkle in her eye, much like the one that Dumbledore had usually sported, and it only grew every time she spoke of Severus. Ginny was secretly pleased at this. She'd assumed the relationship would happen; the two of them were just stubborn and sarcastic enough that they belonged together.

On that December afternoon, as the three of them sipped tea by the fire, a knock sounded on the door. Hermione raised an eyebrow. Was that Severus? He was _really_ early. Harry stood with her. "Did his watch break?"

"I don't know," Hermione said as she made her way to the door. "Maybe he has something to- Malfoy?"

Behind her, Harry drew his wand as Malfoy pushed past her and into the house. "She is absolutely mad!" the blond screamed.

Hermione was slightly taken aback. What was going on? "Malfoy, what are you doing here?"

He spun around, pointing at her. "YOU gave me the advice to talk to her! Well now I have, and she's driving me insane!"

"But why are you here?"

"Well, she'll never find me here," Draco explained, running a hand through his hair. "She'll never expect me to turn to you-"

"Who said you could stay at my _house_, Malfoy?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.

Draco stopped his pacing. "Your house? I thought this was where Granger lives."

"Not even close."

Draco frowned. "I thought it looked rather big for a single woman-"

"_Excuse _me?" Hermione shrieked, making a move to slam the door...

Only it never happened. She had just thrown the door back when someone caught it, stepping into the house with her wand drawn. "Draco Malfoy!"

He blinked, surprised by the sudden appearance of the blond vixen. Then his face suddenly turned cold. "Astoria."

"How _dare _you walk out on me like that," she hissed.

Harry threw his hands up in the air. "Since when has my house become the set of _The Jerry Springer Show_?"

Hermione laughed as Ginny threw her lover a questioning look. "What?"

"Never you mind."

"It's your own ruddy fault!" Draco yelled, stepping closer to Astoria. "What you said was completely unforgivable-"

"I offered you a place to stay," Astoria shot back. "How is that-"

"Yes, out of _pity_ you offered me your charity. How thoughtful," he sneered.

"You're going through a tough time!"

"I have pride, Astoria!"

"But apparently not common sense," she spat back, turning on her heel.

"Where do you think you're going?" Draco shouted, sending a glare at her back.

"I can't deal with you right now!"

"You don't have to leave-"

"Yes, I do," she said, throwing the door open once more and storming out of the house, past a bewildered looking Severus Snape, who had just raised his hand to knock on the door.

"Astoria! Don't you walk away from me," Draco roared before shoving past Severus and chasing after her.

A brief second of silence met the four remaining people as they looked at each other, wondering what the bloody hell had just happened. Then Harry chuckled, lowering his wand. "They make a good couple."

Severus, meanwhile, was giving Hermione an appraising look. "So... What did I miss?"

* * *

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Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	16. Duel

_Duel_

"Would you like to stay for tea?"

Severus shook his head slightly as he worked to keep the surprise he felt from his face. It was mid-spring, and he had been picking Hermione up from Grimmauld Place, when Harry spontaneously extended the invitation to him. Despite the fact that he and Hermione had been getting together for lunch (and secret snogging sessions) for months now, Potter had been barely cordial to him. Now, however, he was being invited in for tea...

"I couldn't impose," he said, suspicion building within him.

"Please stay, Prof- Severus. We could catch up."

"Hermione and I really must be going," Severus said, stepping closer to Hermione.

"But-"

"Merlin, Harry! The man wants to leave." Severus scowled at the youngest Weasley boy's outburst. Potter might have been tolerable, but Weasley... "Don't make him have tea if he doesn't want to!"

"Oh, do stay, Severus," Harry said, a rather odd glint in his eyes. "There is, after all, so much we could discuss."

Severus could feel his eyes widen as the realization hit him. _Potter... Potter knows! He knows I'm dating Hermione!_

How in the name of Merlin did _Potter,_ of all people, figure that out?

A small grimace slid across his features as he admitted defeat. The Weasley girl must have told him... "Perhaps we shall stay after all," he said rather sullenly as Harry smirked in triumph. Hermione gave him a puzzled look, searching his eyes for the reason to his sudden change in mood. He would have to remember to tell her later about Harry...

The door to Grimmauld Place flew open. Ginny jumped out of the way to avoid being hit as Draco Malfoy strolled into the house. "Ah," he said, his eyes coming to rest on Hermione. "I thought you'd be here."

"Why?" Harry muttered to himself. "Why does the git always show up at my house?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Uh, well..." he glanced at the Gryffindors that hovered in the doorway eavesdropping on the conversation, before he lowered his voice. "I wanted to thank you. For the advice you gave me last night about Astoria. It was surprisingly helpful."

Severus raised an eyebrow. Advice? What advice? When had Draco seen Hermione?

The brunette blinked. "Okay."

"Listen, there's this really good pub I know of in London. Fancy a drink? My treat, so long as you don't buy the expensive stuff," he amended. Severus rolled his eyes. Draco sure had class.

"Actually-"

"We're busy, Malfoy," Harry cut in. "So you can just leave."

Draco turned to face Harry, a cold stare upon his features. "Potter, this does not concern you-"

"But this is my house, Malfoy. What I say, goes."

Severus would never have admitted it to the casual observer, but he actually agreed with Harry. He didn't like the idea of Hermione spending time with Draco at a _pub_ of all places. No, it was best for the two of them to stay apart. He had grown rather fond of having Hermione in his life, and he didn't want to lose her to that _ferret_.

"I don't want to _stay_ in your bleeding house!" Draco said, throwing his hands up. "I just want to take one of its inhabitants with me!"

"Well she doesn't want to go!" Harry argued.

"Yes, she does!"

"Is no one going to ask me?" Hermione muttered to Severus.

"Get out, Malfoy."

"No."

"Get." Suddenly, Harry's wand was out, and he was aiming it at Draco- "Out!"

A shot of red light flew towards Draco, and the blond quickly drew his own wand, sending a spell back at Harry. Hermione made a move to stop the duel, but Severus held her back. "What are you doing, Severus?"

"Let them fight it out. It might be good for them." Severus noticed that Ginny and Ron seemed to be thinking the same thing, as the two of them had backed into a corner of the room, watching intently with their wands in their hands, just in case...

"They could kill each other! I have to intervene-"

"Hermione, Draco is my godson. And Harry is one of your best friends," Severus pointed out. "If things go well between us, and believe me when I say I intend for things to go well, then they may be seeing quite a lot of each other. It's best that they let out their pent-up aggression for one another sooner rather than later."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous," she said, as Harry shot a spell past her.

"Better now then at a dinner party where there are innocent people around," he pointed out. The light show before him began to slow, and then, finally, stop. "Besides, it appears I'm right. Both are alive, tired, and now hold a grudging respect for one another."

And so they were. As Draco and Harry shook hands, both carrying a sense of tired satisfaction with the way the duel had ended, they cemented a bond. A bond that, strangely enough, was the beginning of the unlikely friendship between a Potter and a Malfoy.

* * *

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Lurve,

-Selene


	17. Howling

_Howling_

A few weeks later found Harry and Hermione walking home from dinner one night. They could have apparated right back to Grimmauld Place, but the night was warm, and they were in no hurry. Severus had papers to grade, and Ginny and Ron were visiting Charlie in Romania, so it was just the two of them wasting time together.

"...And then Malfoy wrote to me, suggesting that we meet for dinner to 'work out our issues,'" Harry had been saying, a note of amazement in his voice. "I wasn't aware Malfoy even understood the _meaning_ of that phrase, let alone wanted to work through our issues."

"Well, you two seem to have gotten along much better since you nearly killed each other," Hermione glibly pointed out. "Though, in truth, I think Astoria has softened him up a bit. Don't get me wrong, the pair of them still fight constantly, but I think that since Malfoy is now fighting for a purpose, he's become more... mellow."

Harry smirked. "She turned the big bad wolf into a furry little puppy dog?"

Hermione chuckled. "Something like that."

"Speaking of monumental mind make-overs, how on _earth_ did you manage to tame Snape?"

She rolled her eyes. "Severus is actually a sweet man, once you get to know him."

Harry scoffed. "Well I certainly hope so, considering that you're shagging him."

She froze, her eyes widening as she took in Harry's amused glance. "How did you-"

"Ginny," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her along so they could start walking again. "She told me about a month ago. Apparently, she caught you in a rather... compromising position. Of course, the thought is rather appalling at first, given that imagining both you and old Snape of all people, in _any_ sort of, er, physical position is rather revolting, but I suppose that since you two _are _so alike-"

"We're not," she interrupted.

"Not what? Alike?"

"Not sleeping together."

Harry frowned, obviously confused by her admission. "Anymore?..."

"Not ever. At least... Not yet. We're taking things slow," she said softly. Her voice hardened. "Not that it's any of your business."

Harry laughed. "I won't say a word."

"Yes, that's what Ginny said, too," she muttered. "I suppose you don't mind the age difference either?"

He shrugged. "Who am I to judge you? I'm unfortunate enough to have a bolt of lightening permanently etched onto my forehead. As far as I'm concerned, you've joined the Bizarre Brigade." He let out a laugh. "I am surprised though," he confessed as they passed through an alley, taking a shortcut. "I thought for sure Snape would have told you I knew. I could have sworn he'd figured it out that day when Malfoy barged in-"

"Yes, well he was probably a wee bit preoccupied, what with your duel and all," she drawled as she walked along. "You can't blame him for-"

"Ahh-wooooooo!"

They froze. Harry's eyes swept the alleyway as Hermione glanced quickly at the sky. "It's not a full moon," she whispered, drawing her wand. "It can't be a werewolf."

"What are the odds that it's something equally as dangerous," Harry murmured.

"Probably about fifty percent."

"Fabulous."

The two of them crept deeper into the alley, wands held before them as they moved. A shadow flickered off to their left. "There," Harry breathed. In a second, he'd charged forward, his wand before him as he faced his attacker, a big, black, shaggy... dog.

"Ahhhh-woooo!" The thing howled as it padded closer to Harry, it's tail wagging.

Hermione rolled her eyes, lowering her wand. "Well that was anti-climatic."

"Hello, there," Harry crooned, dropping down onto his knees in front of the mutt. "And how are you? Hm? Do you have a name, dear?"

Unsurprisingly, the dog said nothing, it's tail continuing to swing back and forth. "Huh," Harry said to himself. "He looks like Sirius. And there's no collar... Do you not have an owner?"

"Ahhh-woooo!"

Harry chuckled to himself as Hermione leaned back against a wall. "And you sound like Remus," Harry said, smiling down at the happy dog. "I think I'll take you home with me. Yes I will!"

Hermione raised a brow. "Is that wise?"

He shrugged. "Why not? Ginny won't mind."

"Maybe you should actually ask her first."

"Well if she doesn't like him, we can take him to a shelter," Harry pointed out. "It's not like he's much better off here by himself."

"It's a he?"

He made a face. "I think so. It seems rude to check without even knowing his name."

Hermione laughed. "Well, then. What will you call him?"

A sad grimace flew across Harry's face, but it had vanished in an instant. "He's so much like Remus and Sirius... I'll name him Marauder. He'll be my little Marauder."

* * *

Check out my new Pansy/Draco story Lies My Boyfriend Told Me! I hope you all enjoy it!

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Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	18. Excited

_Excited_

Summer had begun, and Hermione couldn't have been more content. Severus was free from teaching for now, and the two were spending more and more time together. Very rarely did days go by without them seeing each other, and Hermione was rather pleased with the arrangement.

Mid-June found the pair at the Burrow, celebrating George and Angelina's son David's first birthday. Initially, Severus had decided to opt out of attending the rowdy affair, but Hermione had dragged him along anyway. The entire Weasley family was at the Burrow, as well as many of George's friends from school.

Severus sighed into his butterbeer, appalled by the weak drinks provided. Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you don't like it, you can just spike the liquid with something stronger."

He shrugged, watching as Ginny chased Ron around the lawn, demanding that he give her broom back. "I lost my flask," he admitted, his cool gaze following Ron as he took to the sky.

Hermione chuckled. "So that's where your dismal mood comes from. I was wondering."

"Why am I even here? It's not as if I'm _friends_ with the Weasley spawn."

"Well, I'd be surprised if you were, Severus," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. "Considering that he's just a baby."

Severus took a drink. "What's his name again?" Ginny began shooting spells at her brother, trying to knock him out of the sky.

"David. David Arthur Weasley. The Arthur part is after George's dad-"

"Yes, thank you," Severus said, tearing his eyes away from the Weasley siblings to give Hermione an annoyed look. "Believe it or not, I'm aware of how Mr. Weasley conjured up the name Arthur for his son."

"Well, I was just checking," Hermione said, taking a sip of her own drink. "I know how you're a little slow when forced to engage in tedious social engagements."

His eyes narrowed. "I am not!"

"Attention! Oi! Attention, please!" The couple turned, looking over at Fred. He stood on a bench, his face flushed with excitement as his family turned to look at him. Ginny stopped chasing her brother, as Ron landed the broom. "Thank you," he said when everyone was quiet. "Now, I know that we're all gathered here today to celebrate little Davie's birthday, and we'll get back to the party in a moment. But first, I have something to say."

Severus leaned over and whispered, "Doesn't he always?"

"Shh!"

"As even I have figured out by now, life is hard. It takes years to find true happiness, to work your will in a way to achieve that... eternal lifestyle that one so covets..." His hands were twitching, his face red with excitement. "It's become apparent to me that when you find something that gives you pure joy, that... That it's best to... To hold on to... Oh, sod it all! Everyone, Katie and I are engaged."

A slight pause met this proclamation before cheers went up all around. "Oh, Merlin!" Molly squealed, reaching up to pull her son down so she could kiss his forehead. "That's wonderful news!"

"Another Weasley is preparing to procreate," Severus drawled. "Thank Merlin for that."

"Oh, do be quiet," Hermione said with a laugh. "They aren't that bad."

"Well," Harry said as he stepped over to the two of them. Ginny had gone to congratulate her brother. "What happy news."

"Oh yes," Severus said quietly. "Marvelous."

Harry grinned. "As excited as I am for Fred, I have to admit, it's a little worrisome."

"How so?" Hermione asked.

"Well, think about it. George and Fred are both in highly-committed relationships. Charlie's still single, but as for Ginny and Percy... Well, Molly will soon be looking for wedding rings. And since everyone expects you and Ron to end up together..." Harry trailed off, his eyebrows raised. "Well, the clock is ticking. You'll have to reveal your... deep friendship sooner or later."

Hermione and Severus exchanged glances, realizing that while Harry hadn't been the best student while at school, he _did_ have a point. Molly wanted many grandchildren, and she wanted nothing more then for all of her kids to be happily married. If she thought Ron and Hermione should be together...

Oh yes, the clock was ticking.

* * *

Check out my new Pansy/Draco story Lies My Boyfriend Told Me! I hope you all enjoy it!

In addition to that, check out my rather adorable new oneshot Ten Sickles. It's listed as Lily/Regulus, but there's a twist... It's humorous, and if you like this story, I'm sure you'll enjoy Ten Sickles, so please read and review it!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	19. First Time

_First Time_

"So," Severus said, sipping his tea quietly as he sat at Hermione's kitchen counter. "Your birthday is tomorrow. Have any plans?"

"I think Harry, Ron, Ginny, and I were all going out to dinner together," Hermione said with a shrug. "Would you like to come?"

"You already force me to attend insipid social gatherings with these people every few weeks," he muttered. "Please, don't increase that requirement."

"But I will see you sometime tomorrow, right?" she asked, biting her lip as she stepped a little closer. "I mean, you aren't going to leave me without my daily dose of you on my birthday, are you?"

His lips curled into a sneer. "Well, well. Look who has become a dependent little girl."

"I try."

He gently grabbed her neck, pulling her face right up to his. "For the record, I'd never leave you alone on your birthday," he breathed, his deep black eyes filled with an unusual amount of sincerity. "I care far too much about you for that."

"Good," she murmured, before bringing her face down to meet his. Hermione's lips brushed his thing ones softly at first, before they grew in power, her tongue hungrily battling with his own as they kissed. His hand ran up and down her side, his fingers lightly tapping out a rhythm along her waist.

The intensity grew as she pulled at his hair, a small moan escaping her as he bit softly at her neck. "Hermione," he muttered against her skin as her hands smoothed down his chest. "We should..." He paused, kissing her chin. "We should probably stop."

"Why," she said, breathless. "Why would we... stop."

"If we don't-" Kiss. "Stop now-" A small grunt came from him as he made to catch her hands, which had been traveling progressively lower and lower... He pulled back, her hands in his. "We'll never be able to."

"I know," she said calmly.

"But-"

"it doesn't matter."

"Are you sure-"

"Yes."

"Have you thought-"

"Of course."

His eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Has anyone ever told you that you're too insufferably well-prepared for an answer about everything?"

"Yes," she said with a small laugh. "You have." She kissed the tip of his nose, before dropping her lips so that they were just in front of his mouth. "And it's okay. I don't want to stop. I've thought this through, Severus. I'm ready."

"Really?" he whispered.

"Yes," she breathed. "I want this. I want you." She kissed him again, pulling him up off the stool he was sitting on and towards her bedroom.

* * *

Dun Dun Dunnn... It's a progression in their relationship. But where shall it lead?

Check out my new Pansy/Draco story Lies My Boyfriend Told Me! I hope you all enjoy it!

In addition to that, check out my rather adorable new oneshot Ten Sickles. It's listed as Lily/Regulus, but there's a twist... It's humorous, and if you like this story, I'm sure you'll enjoy Ten Sickles, so please read and review it!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	20. Anger

_Anger_

The sun beat down through Hermione's bedroom window the next morning, and as she squinted up at the light, she couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance. In the heat of the moment, the passion of last night, she and Severus had forgotten to shut the blinds-

Her eyes popped open. Oh, she wasn't too worried about anyone seeing her and Severus together; her neighbors consisted of two extremely elderly people, and she doubted watching her copulate was something they'd enjoy. No, what worried her was the thought that if she'd forgotten the blinds, what else could have slipped her mind...

Suddenly, she felt the hand that was draped casually on her hip tighten its hold on her, before beginning to smooth its way down her thigh. "I can hear you thinking, you know," Severus muttered against her back.

She rolled over, facing him. His eyes were still closed, but a slight smile was tugging at the edges of his lips. "I was just wondering... Last night, we used protection, right?"

He snorted, his eyes drifting lazily open. "Only muggles call it that. We have potions, spells-"

"And did we use one?"

"Of course. I have no desire to reproduce now, or ever really. Children are _not_ the key to happiness, contrary to popular belief."

Hermione chuckled slightly. "And yet you became a teacher."

Severus lightly kissed her forehead. "Yes." He pulled back, looking into her eyes. "Why do you ask, though? About the contraceptive spell? You don't... Do you regret what we did last night?"

Her eyes widened. "No! Severus, no, of course not. I enjoyed it, really. I did."

"You enjoyed it. Well, that will do wonders for my morale, then," he said, his voice laden with sarcasm.

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. It was amazing, and everything I could have hoped for. I just... I have the feeling that we're forgetting something."

A slow smile drifted across his face. "Perhaps I know what it is."

"Yeah? What's that?"

He leaned in, giving her a gentle kiss on her lips. "Happy birthday," he muttered against her mouth.

She pulled back slightly. "Oh, right. I'm twenty-two today. Odd. It sounds strange to me."

"Then do stop saying it. You're making me feel incredibly ancient, as if I'm a cradle-robbing your parents."

"No problem," she said, leaning in again to lightly kiss his lips. He responded, capturing her bottom lip between his teeth as he gently sucked, his hand twined in her hair as her own hands travelled down his chest...

"Happy birth- Bloody hell!"

Hermione and Severus sprang apart, looking in shock to the foot of her bed, where an amused Harry and Ginny were standing with a frightened Neville and Luna, and an enraged Ron.

"What... What are you guys doing here?" Hermione asked, pulling the sheet up to better cover her body.

"We thought we'd surprise you," Ginny explained, an amused look crawling onto her face. "You know, apparate here, wish you a happy birthday and all. I guess you just surprised us instead."

"What do you say we get out of here, Ginny, and give these two some privacy?" Harry asked, giving his girlfriend a pointed look.

"Excellent idea," Ginny said, before turning back to Hermione. "We'll see you tonight for dinner. Bring Severus," she said, glancing over at her old potions professor with a wicked grin. Severus was still glaring at her when she and Harry disapparated.

"Uh, I guess I'll go too. Bye Hermione," Neville said, disappearing quickly.

Ron and Luna were left, the former's skin slowly turning a bright red. "What are you doing, Hermione?"

She blinked. "You meant that rhetorically, right?"

"_Snape?_ Of all of the men in the world... You have to sleep with Snape?"

She sighed. "Ron-"

"No! He's twice your age, an ex-Death Eater, and an all around greasy git, and you want to let him _touch you_?"

"That's generally what happens when two people participate in coitus together, Mister Weasley," Severus drawled.

Ron pointed a finger at him. "Shut up!"

"Ron, come on. Be reasonable-"

"I am being reasonable! This is bloody ridiculous! I could tolerate the two of you getting along, but _this_? This is unnatural."

"Please Ron. You have to have seen this coming. Harry did. Ginny did. I mean after all this time-"

"They _what?_" His face was, by this time, a deep crimson. "They knew, and they didn't tell _me_?"

"Ron-"

"No! I don't care what you have to say. I have more important things to do. Like yell at my sister and best mate for being so bloody stupid! Excuse me." And with a pop, he was gone.

Luna smiled sympathetically at them. "I'll go talk to him." And she disappeared as well.

Hermione sighed, leaning back into the bed as she shut her eyes. "Well that was pleasant."

She felt Severus' hand move along her shoulder. "Are you... all right?"

She chuckled. "I'm fine. They had to find out about us eventually, after all. At least now I know what I was forgetting."

"Really? And what might that be?"

"That my friends _love_ to surprise me."

* * *

I know that I've been gone forever, and I'm so sorry! But I'm back now, I promise!

Please, while you wait for an update, check out my rather humorous look into the relationship between Draco and Astoria, entitled Baggage and tell me what you think!

Check out my new Pansy/Draco story Lies My Boyfriend Told Me! I hope you all enjoy it!

In addition to that, check out my rather adorable new oneshot Ten Sickles. It's listed as Lily/Regulus, but there's a twist... It's humorous, and if you like this story, I'm sure you'll enjoy Ten Sickles, so please read and review it!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	21. I Can't Stay Away

_"I can't stay away."_

Weeks later Ron still wasn't talking to her. Hermione had spoken with Luna, and according to the blond, he just needed some time to cool off. That being said, the angry tension between the two of them didn't do much to help relations between the Weasley family and Hermione. No, Molly had been absolutely appalled to learn that she was dating Severus, and Arthur had been sickened by the matter.

Fred and George, of course, had found it utterly amusing. She wasn't surprised.

She continued to sleep with Severus, though she felt like she never saw him anymore now that school was back in session. "You should come over some weekends," she said, running a hand down his bare chest late one night. "Get away as often as you can."

"As much as I'd enjoy that, I do have my own flat. I'd like to actually spend time there every now and then, surprisingly enough," he drawled. "Perhaps you could just visit me there every other weekend."

She scoffed. "Well that's terribly inconvenient."

"How so?"

"I'd be living to your beck and call. I'd be seeing you on _your_ time. When you write to me, saying that you were returning home, I'd have to head all the way to the other side of town."

"It's not that inopportune," he said with a small smirk. "You _can_ apparate, you know."

"Well, why can't you come and stay with me?"

But he just waved the thought away, stretching out further onto her bed. "I never get to see my furniture; I'm always at Hogwarts. You, however, spend all of your time with your belongings at your house-"

"Just because I study instead of teach doesn't mean I have no life," she snapped, sitting up.

He blinked. "I never said that."

"You insinuated it," she said, rolling out of bed. "You meant that since I spend all of my time here, I should be able to easily drop whatever it is I'm doing and come running the moment you call."

"Well your schedule _is_ much more flexible than my own-"

"I don't believe you!" she hissed, spinning around so she could glare at him. She reached for her shirt. "How can you say that? Just because I'm studying to better myself as you sulk around terrorizing children-"

"I do not sulk," he said darkly, sitting up as well.

"-That doesn't mean _you_ control this relationship! We are in this together! Or have you forgotten?"

"Will you stop getting dressed and come back to bed?" he said tersely, his eyes narrowing.

"No! You can't order me around, Severus. I will do what I bloody well please!"

"You're being ridiculous," he hissed. "Acting like the child you are."

She scoffed. "If I'm so child-like, then why are you with me? Why are you sleeping with me and spending time with me? Have a touch of pedophilia in you? Should I send out warnings to all of your students?"

"Don't make this into something dirty-"

"I'm not. It's _you _who thinks himself to be sleeping with a _child_," she spat.

"I hardly think I'd fall in love with a child," he snapped. Severus froze, his breath catching in his throat as his eyes darted to hers. He watched as she blinked, gathering herself as he waited for her response, nervous. _Why_ had he said that? He hadn't wanted to tell her yet... Not like this, anyway.

"Love," she said at last, rather softly. "You've fallen in love?"

"Perhaps," he admitted rather stiffly.

"It's a yes or no question, Severus. Have you-"

"Yes," he said quickly. He shut his eyes, breathing in deeply before responding. "Yes I have. I... I can't stay away from you."

Silence met his ears, before he felt the bed dip beneath him, sinking underneath her weight as she crawled towards him. He felt her hand graze his cheek. "Severus," she whispered. "Really?"

He opened his eyes, looking at her rather wearily. "Please don't make me say it again. I'm... I'm not... I don't usually show affection in this... sort of manner."

She smiled softly. "I'm not surprised." Ever so slowly, she leaned forward, brushing her lips against his own. "And in truth, I think I've fallen in love with you too."

"Have you now," he said, a small smirk forming on his face as relief flowed through him.

"Yes."

"Well then, I think I have a solution to our little visitation problem."

"Oh," she said, running her fingers through his hair. "And what might that be?"

"I'm moving in."

* * *

So I'm back from the dead, yay! Life has been pretty crazy, but things have finally started to slow down... to start with, I'm now officially going to the George Washington University! Yes! So that's exciting. All that I have to do now is graduate...

Please, while you wait for an update, check out my rather humorous look into the relationship between Draco and Astoria, entitled Baggage and tell me what you think!

Check out my new Pansy/Draco story Lies My Boyfriend Told Me! I hope you all enjoy it!

In addition to that, check out my rather adorable new oneshot Ten Sickles. It's listed as Lily/Regulus, but there's a twist... It's humorous, and if you like this story, I'm sure you'll enjoy Ten Sickles, so please read and review it!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciated it!

Lurve,

-Selene


	22. Forbidden

_Forbidden_

Their relationship had gone rather public after the birthday fiasco, and once the wizarding world caught wind of the fact that Severus was selling his flat in favor of moving in with Hermione, whispers began to constantly surround the two.

Students at Hogwarts would stare at him, gossiping quietly before class started about how he must have used a love potion on her. The murmurs would follow him everywhere. From the Great Hall to his classroom, the Slytherin common room to the Quidditch pitch, wherever he went, he'd hear his name.

"Snape did _what_?"

"Well he _had_ to have cursed her. What else could have attracted her to _him _of all people?"

"Shh! Here he comes!"

He could understand their fascination with his love life, though he hardly supported it. The idea of an older man falling in love with a younger woman... It was something every teenage girl dreamed about. Being wanted by someone so worldly and wise...

But he knew that their fascination with age ran deeper than that. She was so young... He had taught her at Hogwarts during her sixth year, less than five years ago. She was but a child in the eyes of many. What he and Hermione had together should have been forbidden.

But he didn't care.

Hermione wasn't exempt from the musings of the many muckrakers, either. When she went to her classes to learn to become a Healer, she'd constantly encounter students, asking her anything and everything about her relationship.

"Is his hair really that greasy?"

"What's he like in bed?"

"Did it start when you were still in school?"

The last one seemed to be the most popular. Hermione supposed that was because if the answer had been yes, it would have added another level of mystique and a forbidden air to what was already considered a scandalous relationship. If it had been yes, then not only was she Severus' play-thing, but she was also a school-girl harlot.

The thought made her shake her head in wonder. She'd never liked being in the spotlight. After Harry had defeated Voldemort, she'd shied away from all social gatherings in an effort to avoid the attention she was getting. However, now she couldn't run from the spotlight. Now, they all knew her, and now she had a life. No, she wouldn't run. She would stay where she was and deal with the musings of the mindless.

She knew the gossip would never stop. People were just too interested in a forbidden romance.

* * *

Hey everyone, thank you so much for all of the reviews!

Please check out my new short oneshot, As Memory Serves. It delves into the characterization of Hermione, and even though it's completely canon, the Hermione from this story is just as feisty in As Memory Serves!

Thank you all so much!

Lurve,

-Selene


	23. Lust

_Lust_

"It's been such a tiring week," Hermione said with a sigh, leaning back against her chair. She and Severus were out for drinks at a muggle bar, celebrating the end of a particularly trying month. "What with my final exams coming up and all, I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"Oh, please, Hermione," Severus said with a roll of his eyes. "You _live _for examinations. You must be so terribly excited about this. When you pass, you'll receive your healer's license."

She scoffed. "Are you mad? It's not enough to just _pass_. I have to score exponentially high! If I want a job at St. Mungo's, I have to do well-"

"I happen to know for a fact that they'll hire anyone with a license," Severus said, before taking a sip of his firewhiskey. "You can do so much better than St. Mungo's."

"Why would you say that?"

"They hired Augustus Pye," he remarked with a scowl. "The dunderhead was a Hufflepuff during my time at Hogwarts. He didn't know the difference between a mandrake and a rose bush."

A small smile twisted onto her face. "You're being hyperbolic. I'm sure he's not that asinine."

"You'd be surprised," he muttered, before stopping. His eyes narrowed as he stared off deeper into the pub. "Say, isn't that..."

Hermione turned, looking through the dimly lit room to find what had him so entranced. She was about to ask when she caught a flash of red hair... "Ron? What's he doing here? And is that... Luna?"

His lips quirked. "It appears that they're on a date."

Hermione looked back to Severus, her eyes growing wide. "What? Really? No, no that's absurd. Ron wouldn't date Luna. He made fun of her all throughout school-"

"As I recall, he wasn't exactly pleasant to you," Severus pointed out. "It turned out that he viewed you as more than a friend, am I correct?"

"Well yes, but this is Luna Lovegood! There's no way he'd fancy _her._"

"Just as I am Severus Snape and there's no way you'd fancy me?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "And yet, you seem to be proving that stereotype to be invalid. Why can't he do the same?"

She stared at him. "Are you seriously lecturing me on open-mindedness? _You?"_

"The sooner the bloke moves on from obsessing about you and your relationship with me, the better for us all."

"But how can you be sure-"

"His eyes," Severus said, lifting his glass. "They tell it all. There's a lust in them, as if he wants her for more than just a dining partner."

She glanced back at the pair. "Ron and Luna. I never thought..."

"You're not alone in that," he said, taking a swig.

"They're getting up!" Hermione said, turning quickly back to Severus. "You don't think they've seen us, do you? Oh, Merlin that's terrible, they can't-"

"They're leaving," he said, nodding towards the door, "and... Oh, bloody hell!"

"What?"

"His hand has decided to attach itself to her rear end." He took another drink, a pained look settling onto his face. "That is much more of Mister Weasley's love life than I needed to see."

"But, they're leaving together," Hermione said with a small smile. "Which means-"

"Lust," Severus said with a nod. "I told you. They are most definitely together. And from the level of comfort and intimacy they are displaying with each other- from the way they seem to be lusting after each other in public- I'd say it isn't the first time."

* * *

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all of the reviews last chapter! They mean a lot to me.

Some of you have been asking about Collide; I'm currently halfway through with the next chapter. It's just a really dense chapter, so it's taking awhile, but it should be up soon.

Take care!

-Selene


	24. Notes

_Notes_

"Again."

"Well the burns could be poisonous, depending on what type of dragon caused them-"

"Which dragons are poisonous?" Severus asked, glancing down at the textbook in front of him.

"Norwegian Ridgebacks, Portuguese Long-Snouts, and... uh..."

"The Hebridean Black," Severus supplied for her.

Hermione hit her fist against the table. "Dammit!"

"Relax," Severus soothed, flipping through the abundance of the book's pages marked up with Hermione's notes. "Now, if the patient wasn't burned in a dragon reserve, and you need to know immediately what type of dragon caused the burn, you ask-"

"What country the burn took place in," Hermione answered quickly.

"And if the answer they give doesn't match one of the known places that dragons inhabit?"

"Assume that they're lying and check their body for poison as you run basic healing spells over the burns until you're sure what kind of dragon it was."

"And after that?"

"Contact the ministry and have them check out the area for possible breaches in security," Hermione rattled off.

"Now if the treatment isn't taking to the victim, you should..."

"Reevaluate the burns and try something new," Hermione answered.

Severus nodded. "More or less. You want to make sure the old treatment's left the magical core of the victim before trying anything new, but in essence-"

"Of course," Hermione said, her hands coming up to cover her face. "Of course! Oh, I'm a bloody idiot!"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far, but-"

"I can't do this, Severus! I'm not cut out to be a Healer. I'm not good enough, not smart enough, not knowledgeable enough!" She collapsed into the seat next to him. "I'm not ready for this!"

"Hermione, the exam's not for another week. Now, you don't have to be perfect. You'll be working with senior Healers for over a year, anyway. You'll do fine-"

"Fine isn't good enough!"

He frowned, giving her a long look. "Hermione, where is this coming from?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you've become increasingly nervous since the month began. If anything, this should be making you more confident, not less. So what's the real reason behind all of this?"

She turned away. "It's nothing."

"Oh, no you don't," he said, leaning forward to grab her chin between his hands. "Come on now, Hermione. Don't lie to me. What's going on?"

She hesitated, staring off into the distance at something only she could see... "I don't want to be helpless," she muttered at last.

He quirked an eyebrow. "As far as I know, you've never been helpless a day in your life."

"Wrong."

"How so?"

She took a deep breath. "That day... In the shack. When you were dying... A part of me was glad you were gone, you know, because I wasn't aware of your entire... _story_." She gave him an apologetic smile before continuing. "But the other part... I felt that even if I had wanted to save you, I'd have no idea how to do so. I was lost, and... I don't ever want to feel that way again."

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her lithe body to his chest. "You're afraid," he muttered.

"Terrified."

"You're not going to lose me, Hermione. I'm here. We're safe. I'm safe, you're safe. Everyone we know is safe. The Dark Lord is gone. You don't have to worry anymore. I'm here for you. I... love you."

She smiled at his slight stutter, knowing full well that still wasn't used to saying the words out loud. "I know," she whispered, before turning around to kiss him.

* * *

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all of the reviews last chapter! They mean a lot to me.

Some of you have been asking about Collide; I'm currently halfway through with the next chapter. It's just a really dense chapter, so it's taking awhile, but it should be up soon.

Take care!

-Selene


	25. A Chase Scene

_A Chase Scene_

"Don't you just love spring?" Hermione sighed, sipping the glass of iced tea Ginny had just handed her.

"It _is_ rather marvelous, isn't it?" Katie Weasley said, leaning back against her new husband. She and George had eloped earlier in the year, surprising everyone by getting married without all of the fanfare of a big wedding. "The sunshine, the cool breeze..."

"The monstrous children running amok," Severus muttered, eyeing George's son two year old son David as he ran in Molly Weasley's backyard, being hopelessly chased by five year old Teddy and George.

Hermione gently hit his arm. "Severus!" She couldn't be too angry with him, though. He'd stayed up late at night for weeks, helping her to prepare for her exams in healing. It was thanks to him that she'd passed first in the class. She was now officially a junior healer at St. Mungo's.

Harry just chuckled, turning to Fred and Katie. "What about you? Are you two planning on having children anytime soon?"

Fred shrugged. "Maybe soon. But we're kind of adjusting to married life first, if you know what I mean."

Ginny, Harry, and Hermione all exchanged glances as Severus rolled his eyes. "No," Ginny said with a small laugh. "We don't know what you mean, given that none of us are married."

Katie leaned forward. "Well obviously things change once you're married," she said with confidence. "Suddenly, you have someone there who you have to make decisions with. You have to be co-dependent on another person. It takes some getting used to."

Angelina nodded with enthusiasm. "I understand completely. When George and I first got married, we were so _disjointed_. I kept trying to just leave for work every morning. I kept forgetting that I needed to say good-bye. I was just not at all used to having to tell someone that I was going. It was bizarre."

"Well then isn't it good to live with someone before you marry them?" Harry asked. "That way you'll know what it's like, right?"

"Well unlike my dear brother and Angelina here, Katie and I _did_ live together for a year prior to our marriage," Fred pointed out. "However, things are still rather different. Think about it; you go from being able to leave whenever you want, to having a curfew." He made a face as Katie rolled her eyes. "It's horrible," he joked, his eyes closed for dramatic effect.

Katie stuck out her tongue. "Oh, please. You love being married to me."

Fred grinned. "Whatever you say, dear." Then he turned to his companions. "So, what about you lot? Any specific reason as to why you're questioning us about marriage?"

Hermione and Severus exchanged glances. _Was_ there a reason behind their concerns? Hermione blushed a bit. If she allowed this conversation to continue, people would begin to think that she wanted to get married, and that she and Severus had been discussing it, when in fact, they had avoided the topic altogether thus far.

She swallowed. She supposed it wasn't totally unheard of for her to be thinking about marriage. She _was _living with Severus, after all. Not only that, but he'd told her that he loved her. For Severus, that was _huge_. He was so quiet and reserved with his feelings... For him to open up like that must mean something. Right?

She tried to imagine herself married to Severus. What would it be like? Would he spend more time at their flat? Less? Would he become more caring or more cold and distant? Would he want kids?

Hermione shook the thought away, though. No, it was best not to think about it yet. It was too soon. There was no reason for her to fret over something that may or may not happen.

It was Harry, however, who properly managed to articulate what she was feeling. "I don't think so, Fred," he said with a small laugh. "We're a little young for that, you know. We don't need to rush things."

No, they didn't need to rush things. Not when life was so perfect anyway.

Fred just shrugged. "Suit yourself. To tell you the truth, I just feel bad for Ron. Everyone's pairing up now, and he has nobody. It must be hard for him."

"That might be why he's not here today," Angelina pointed out. "He can't stand the thought of being alone among us couples."

"Not to mention he's still absolutely livid at Hermione," Harry said, throwing his friend an apologetic glance.

"Or it could be because he's too busy screwing Miss Lovegood's brains out," Severus hissed in Hermione's ear.

She shushed him, knowing that they were the only two people who knew about Ron's relationship with Luna. She wanted to keep this secret for her friend. As she watched George finally catch little David, effectively ending the chase scene before them, she nodded to herself. Yes, Ron would tell them about Luna when he was ready.

Just as she would worry about her future with Severus when the time came.

* * *

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all of the reviews last chapter! They mean a lot to me.

Some of you have been asking about Collide; I'm currently halfway through with the next chapter. It's just a really dense chapter, so it's taking awhile, but it should be up soon.

Also, my oneshot Ten Sickles was recently named the winner of the "Will you Be My Valentine" challenge, so please check it out and leave me a review to tell me what you think!

Take care!

-Selene


	26. I Won't Let You Go Without a Fight

_"I won't let you go without a fight"_

"Huh. That's true; he _has_ been rather absent from our lives lately," Ginny mused, continuing our conversation as she took a sip of her tea. "I wonder where Ron has been."

"He's probably still mad at me," Hermione grumbled. "We haven't seen him since my birthday. You know, when he caught me with Severus?"

The redhead grinned. "Ah, yes. A day to be remembered for sure." She laughed. "He must still be mooning over you."

_Oh trust me, he's not_, Hermione thought. But she just smiled. "Enough about his romantic escapades. I'd really rather not dwell on them, to tell you the truth. So let's talk about you. How are things going with you and Harry?"

"Perfect. He's so romantic..."

"So I take you haven't had anymore... scares?" she asked rather pointedly.

Ginny winced at the memory, setting her cup of tea on the table beside her. That one moment of weakness she'd had last year still haunted her. She had been so worried that she was pregnant... "No, I haven't. I'm much more careful now."

Hermione frowned. "Did you ever tell Harry? About the-"

"No," she snapped. "And I don't plan on it. It was over a year ago, it's not relevant now. There's no need to tell him-"

"Tell me what?" Harry asked as he stepped into the room. His eyebrows were raised, his bright green eyes narrowed in suspicion as he took off his coat and set it on the hook in the corner of the room.

Ginny paled. "Harry! What are you doing here?"

The boy in question blinked. "I live here. You know, with you." He stepped closer, tilting his head to the side. "Why are you deflecting?"

"I'm not!"

"Then what's there to tell me?"

"Nothing Harry," Ginny said with a wave of her hand. "Just girl stuff. Don't worry about it."

Harry peered at his girlfriend, studying her face; it was turned defiantly towards his. After a moment, he turned to the brunette that sat next to her. "Hermione?" he asked, searching the eyes of his best friend for confirmation. "Is this true?"

Hermione blinked, thinking rapidly of the situation at hand. On the one side, Ginny had confided in her. She had shared a dark secret in a moment of weakness, and she didn't want to betray that level of trust. Yet on the other side... Harry was her best friend. And here he was, making decisions blind and unknowing. She sighed. There was really only one option. "Ginny thought she was pregnant."

"Hermione!"

The color drained from his face, pallor taking its place. "When?" he said quietly.

"Last year."

"I can't believe you," Ginny hissed. "Telling Harry! Why would you... What in the name of Merlin possessed you-"

"How could you keep that from me?" Harry interjected. "How could you..."

"Harry-"

"No! You... You lied to me, Ginny. I can't believe you..." he trailed off, running a hand through his unruly black hair. He stepped back, shaking his head as he squeezed his eyes tight shut.

"I thought you'd be upset! I thought you'd worry over nothing-" Ginny pleaded.

"Damn right I'm upset!" Harry yelled. "You _lied_ to me. Me! I thought we were close Ginny!"

"We are!"

"No!" He stopped, shutting his eyes once more as he shook his head again. "And you're so young. So incredibly young. Too young for..." When he opened his eyes once more, a pained expression had taken control of his face. "I... I can't do this, Ginny. Not anymore. You're only twenty-one, and if you're keeping things from me... Thinking you're pregnant-"

"Harry!" Ginny said sharply. "It was a mistake. Nothing happened, I was just being paranoid-"

"No. I... I'm sorry. But we can't... I can't do this. You should leave."

"No!"

"Fine then," Harry said, beginning to back out of the room. "I'll... I'll be back in a few hours. Give you some time to get your stuff together-"

"I won't let you go without a fight," Ginny cried out, her eyes filling with tears as she jumped from her seat, hurrying after him. "You can't break up with me over something as petty as _this!_"

But Harry just shook his head. "You don't have a choice." And with a _crack_, he had disappeared.

As sobs began to wrack Ginny's body, Hermione stood, tentatively making her way towards her friend. "Ginny," she whispered. "Ginny, please, I'm sorry, but he had a right-"

"Get the bloody hell away from me," Ginny hissed, her expression morphing to one of anger and sadness. "Just go away! You... You ruined everything!"

As Ginny continued to cry, Hermione backed away, stunned by the turn of events, and the fact that she now had two of the Weasley children not speaking to her.

* * *

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all of the reviews last chapter! They mean a lot to me.

If you enjoyed this, then please check out my new oneshot starring Lucy Weasley! It's a completely original take on her (which is something that you _never_ hear anymore), so please review and tell me what you think!

In addition to that, if you enjoy this story, please read and review my oneshot about Hermione called As Memory Serves. It's really short, and the entire story is told in seven letters that Hermione has written each year that she's known of Lockhart... Don't worry, they aren't love letters! No, but they are brutally honest...

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	27. It's you, it's always you, & it always w

_"It's you, it's always you, and it always will be you."_

"I feel so horrible, Severus."

He sighed, leaning back against his couch as Hermione collapsed into the seat across from him, burying her face in her hands. "The girl still isn't talking to you, then?"

"No. It's been nearly a month and _still_ she hates me for what happened. What I _did._" She crossed her legs, taking a sip of the tea she had waiting for her on the coffee table. "Meanwhile, Ron won't talk to me either, and Harry's _completely_ depressed... Everything is just so complicated."

"You could always apologize to the Weasley girl again-"

"I've already tried that," Hermione said glumly. "And even if I hadn't, I don't see why _I _should be the one to apologize. All I did was tell Harry the truth."

"Yes, but that wasn't what she wanted."

Hermione blinked. "Are you saying that I should've lied to him? His girlfriend thought she was pregnant!"

Severus waved the thought away. "This is Potter we're talking about. If you had lied to him, it wouldn't have made a difference; he'd never have known the truth, anyway."

"So if _I_ had a pregnancy scare, you wouldn't want to hear about it?"

Severus tensed. "Well... You haven't, right? I mean, you're still fine, aren't you?"

Hermione blanched. "Fine? _Fine?_ You act as if pregnancy is a disease."

"Would you answer the question?" he demanded, leaning forward.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not pregnant, Severus! But would it really be so horrible if I was? If I was having a child-"

"Yes," he said simply, relaxing back into his chair.

"It would. You hate children so much that even my child, no, _our_ child would be repulsive to you," Hermione said, her eyes narrowed.

"Well I wouldn't say repulsive, but abhorrent is a decent word."

"Severus Snape," Hermione seethed, standing up. "You're not even _open_ to the idea of children-"

"Children only belong with insipid married couples-"

She collapsed back in her seat. "So... So you've never even considered marrying me."

"Well you _are _rather young," Severus said, his eyes narrowing as he squinted at her, trying to find out what was bothering her so much.

"Yes I am. But I'm also _dating_ you, Severus. And generally, when a relationship goes well, people begin to contemplate the future." She stood again, hurrying across the room and towards the door to her bedroom. "At least that's what I thought."

Severus sighed. "Hermione-" But she shut the door to her room, closing off any contact with him.

Was she deluding herself? Was she so naive as to believe that she could have a future with Severus, that she'd _want_ to have a future with Severus? How could she have been to blind? He loved her, but this was _Severus_. He wasn't one for marriage or children. All he wanted was a potion to brew and a book to read. And, maybe, some gin to go with his tea. She sighed to herself. _I'm being an idiot, _she thought. _I have to get over this. It's hopeless._

She heard the door open slowly. "Hermione?" he whispered as he stepped into their bedroom. "Can't we talk?"

"What's there to talk about?"

She felt the bed dip slightly as he sat besides her. "I'm sorry if I upset you," he said softly. "You know me, Hermione. Always quick with my tongue, never thinking my sarcasm through. You know that I care very deeply for you."

She shook her head, refusing to meet his gaze. "That's lovely, Severus. But what kind of a foundation is that to build a life on?"

He took a deep breath. "Well I've never actually thought of having a life with you." Instinctively, Hermione pulled away. "Hold on, now! I've never thought about it, because I won't let myself." He stood, coming around to kneel before her. "Think, Hermione. You're so bloody perfect... You don't belong with someone like me! Someone so old... You're going to leave me eventually."

The brunette blinked. "That's what this is about. Your insecurities?"

Severus scowled. "Must we be so blatant about my faults?"

"Severus, I'm not going to leave you. I _love _you. I want..." She shook her head. "Why can't you see, Severus? It's you, it's always you, and it always will be you." She stroked the side of his face. "Really."

She watched as he swallowed, as he took her hand in his own. Finally, he spoke. "I... I'm very pleased by this."

She rolled her eyes. "Only you could treat a declaration of love as if it were a homework assignment done well."

"I am a teacher, you know," Severus said with a light grin. "But Hermione, you really don't know how pleased I am to hear you say that. Really."

* * *

Three weeks left of school! Thank you so much for all of the reviews last chapter! They mean a lot to me.

If you enjoyed this, then please check out my new oneshot starring Lucy Weasley! It's a completely original take on her (which is something that you _never_ hear anymore), so please review and tell me what you think!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	28. Acceptance

_Acceptance_

"Would you hurry up? Harry's going to murder me if we're late!" Hermione called out to Severus one early summer evening. "This is the first time he's been able to convince Ron to even be in the same room as me for nearly a year. Let's not allow our lack of punctuality to ruin it, shall we?"

"Give me a minute, will you? I'm almost ready."

"Almost isn't quick enough, Severus," she shouted in the direction of the bedroom. "And I doubt Harry would disagree."

"Well, why don't you come here and help me, then, if you're so desperate to attend to _Potter_."

She rolled her eyes at the obvious sneer in his voice as she began to make her way down the hall. "Honestly, Severus, I know you don't want to go, but we agreed to this dinner _ages_ ago, and Draco's going to be-" She stopped, her eyes widening slightly as she took in the sight of Severus standing before her with a bouquet of roses. "Decent hostess gift, though I believe Harry prefers violets."

He scowled. "They aren't for him, you silly girl. They're for you."

She reached out, taking them with a slight smile on her face. "They're beautiful, Severus. They're amazing and lovely, and so thoughtful of you. They almost make up for you calling me a silly girl a moment ago..." She trailed off as her thumb caressed one of the flower's stems, moving over a small band of metal. Looking down, she realized the band was a classic diamond ring made of white gold...

She looked up, shock evident on her face as she realized that Severus was kneeling before her, his dark eyes watching hers intently, a nervous spark barely visible within them. "Hermione Granger," he said softly. "Three weeks ago, when you told me you were contemplating the future, I became so incredibly euphoric-"

She blinked. "Euphoric? _That's_ how you'd describe your joy? Are you trying desperately to date yourself?"

"Hermione," he snapped. His voice shook, though, and Hermione realized that perhaps then wasn't the best time for jokes. He was so nervous. "I love you. I really love you, and I would be honored if you would agree to take my hand in marriage and become my wife."

She tilted her head to the side, running her thumb over the wedding band. She didn't even need to think about the question. "So how long did you spend working up the nerve to ask me?"

His jaw twitched as his eyes narrowed. "A few days."

"You were nervous."

"Must you be such a bloody know-it-all at this particular moment?"

"Oh, do stand up, Severus. I believe kneeling for so long has made you grouchy." She slipped the band off of the rose and onto the ring finger of her left hand. "Besides," she said with a wide grin. "Shouldn't we celebrate?"

He stood slowly, reaching out for her hands. "Is that a yes?"

She chuckled, flinging her arms around his neck. "Of course it's a yes, you daft bat! Yes! Yes, I'll marry you!"

"Yes? Oh, Merlin, you said yes!" And he kissed her, his lips meeting her own furiously as he expressed his joy, his hands tangling themselves in her hair.

She pulled away after a moment. "Let's go."

He blinked, clearly surprised. "Go? Go where?"

"To Harry's, of course."

"To Harry's..." He shook his head. "Bugger Harry! Hermione, we just got _engaged_. Shouldn't we celebrate?"

"Of course we should. But there's no reason we can't deliver the news to Harry and company first. It will make missing the dinner party easier for him to bare." And with a small smile, she grabbed his hand, apparating to the doorstep of Grimmauld Place.

* * *

"There you two are! What the bloody hell kept you?" Harry asked as he opened the door.

In answer, Hermione flashed him her ring. "This."

Harry's eyes widened as they darted from her to Severus and back again. "Please tell me this is a recent development, and you haven't been hiding this from me for a few weeks."

She shook her head. "It literally happened minutes ago."

"Then congratulations, Hermione!"

"Thank you!"

His eyes narrowed as they drifted over to Severus. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you and make it look like a dreadful accident. Don't you ever doubt that; I _will _follow through on my promise.I'm an Auror now; we know how to do these sorts of things."

Severus gave a curt nod. "Noted."

"What's taking so long with the bloody door, Potter," Draco asked as he stepped into the room, Astoria by his side. It took the Slytherin but a moment to sense the tension, and even less time to figure out why. He gave Severus a small smirk. "You finally asked her, did you?"

"You _knew_?"

"Of course he knew," Severus said with a roll of his eyes. "Who else would know the insane romanticisms of asking someone such a momentous question?"

"So you did, then," Draco confirmed. "Ask her, I mean."

"Asked who what?"

Everyone turned, finding Ron Weasley standing awkwardly by the doorway to the living room. Hermione took a deep breath, facing him for the first time in months. "Severus and I are getting married, Ron."

He paled visibly, his eyes going wide before narrowing as he glared at his old teacher. He seemed to struggle with words for a moment, before he finally spoke. "If you hurt her, I'll tear you apart."

"You'll have to stand in line behind Potter, then," Severus said stiffly.

Hermione, however, sprang forward, throwing her arms around Ron. "Thank you, Ronald! Oh, thank you for approving! I've missed you!"

"I know," Ron said, hugging her back. "I've missed you too."

"I don't get a hug?" Harry said, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around his two friends, the trio becoming whole once more.

Severus, however, scowled. "Would you two get your hands off of my fiancé?"

* * *

Two weeks left of school! Thank you so much for all of the reviews last chapter! They mean a lot to me.

If you enjoyed this, then please check out my new oneshot starring Lucy Weasley! It's a completely original take on her (which is something that you _never_ hear anymore), so please review and tell me what you think!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	29. Gorgeous

_Gorgeous_

They held their wedding in late August of that year, near twilight. As the green grass of the lush meadow they stood in whistled in the evening breeze, Severus couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face. He was actually getting married. How could that be? He, Severus Snape, the greasy bat of the dungeons was in love and getting married. To an old student, no less. What many considered to be a scientific improbability was actually coming true. He was about to be married.

Life was strange, sometimes.

He looked around at all of the smiling faces that sat in the whicker chairs before him and the minister. Fred and a very pregnant Katie. George, Angelina, and their little son David. Molly and Arthur. Bill, Fleur, and their daughter. Charlie, Percy, and Longbottom. Ron and Luna. Astoria. Potter.

And then their was his side of the ceremony, filled with colleagues all there to wish him well on his happy day. Minerva, Filius, and Pomona. Poppy and Sybil. Kingsley. A potions master he'd met a few years back at a convention. All were there, dressed in their very best attire to watch him get married.

Married! He still couldn't believe it. How could he ever have been so lucky...

Her parents were there amongst the crowd. He was happy for her, glad that she'd been able to find them in Australia after the war and restore their memories. Hermione's grandparents were there, as well as her mother's sister Annabelle, a single mother of a five year old girl named Lilac who was already showing magical powers. Magic had, apparently, begun to breach her family.

He swallowed, nervous suddenly to be surrounded by her family. To say that they were unhappy about this union was an understatement; Hermione's father had been livid to learn that his baby girl was marrying a man twenty years her senior. Yet he'd managed to swallow his pride, and he was here to support his daughter, nonetheless. And yet Severus had the distinct feeling that if the man had _any_ magical powers at all, then he would have cursed Severus months ago...

"It's okay," Draco whispered from beside him, sensing his unease.. "Everything's going to go as planned."

"Not now that you've said that," Severus said, shooting him a glare. Why he'd chosen Draco to be his best man was beyond him; he must have had a moment of temporary insanity to believe that such an asinine idea was worth following through.

The music began to play, and the crowd hushed, turning in their seats slightly so they could get a view of the wedding procession. Lilac was first, throwing flower petals every which way, a sweet rose scent emerging from the basket. The little girl practically danced down the aisle, her curly hair bouncing after her as she threw her last petal to the ground.

Ginny came next. Somehow, Hermione had made up with the redhead upon divulging the news of their marriage, and from that moment on, Ginny had been her maid of honor. Her floor length, violet colored dress trailed slightly behind her as she made her way down towards the front of the room, an amused smile on her face. She winked at her family as she passed, before taking her place beside the altar.

And then the wedding march began. Severus forced himself not to roll his eyes at the overused tune. He would have preferred a more traditional wizarding song, but Hermione had so desperately wanted the muggle melody that he had caved.

And suddenly, there she was, on the arm of her father. Part of her long brown hair was pulled back into a slight bun, with half of her hair cascading down her back with her veil. Her long white dress had no train, but there were ruffles along the hem that emphasized her lean legs.

She was all smiles as she made her way towards him, the magnificent orchids she held in her hands paling in comparison to her. Her eyes shown with unshed tears, causing Severus' hands to begin to tremble. _This is it,_ he thought. _She's mine. She's going to be mine forever. _

Beside him, Draco muttered, "Breathe."

He let out a breath, unaware that he'd been holding it in. _She truly is breathtaking_, he thought, half amused and half in awe. As she reached him, her father let go, giving her a kiss on the check and a smile, before returning to his seat, ignoring Severus completely.

With a smile of her own, she faced him, oblivious to the tension between Severus and her overprotective father. She grabbed his hands. "Severus," she said simply.

He couldn't resist giving her a quick kiss on the forehead before the ceremony began, holding her gaze as a Ministry official stepped up to begin the procedure. "You are absolutely gorgeous," he whispered. And then they turned their attentions to the official who would bond them together in life.

* * *

Fluff piece! Haha, you had to have known this one was coming. Anywho, the next chapter should be up in a few days time. But because I love you all, I've decided to give you a hint... The title of this next chapter is _Mistake_...

If you enjoyed this, then please check out my new oneshot starring Lucy Weasley! It's a completely original take on her (which is something that you _never_ hear anymore), so please review and tell me what you think!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	30. Mistake

_Mistake_

The wedding went off, surprisingly, without a hitch, and before they knew it, Severus and Hermione were off to Italy for a honeymoon. After visiting the colosseum, they had strolled the streets of wizard-Rome, and visited the sites of various goblin slaughters from the fifteenth century onward.

It was incredibly educational, and thereby incredibly romantic for both Severus and Hermione.

The two were very much in love, and the happy, bubbly feeling that had irrationally built up in Severus since the moment Hermione had accepted his proposal had yet to leave him. They returned to London a few weeks later, tired but satiated with their romantic interlude. "Home at last," Severus said as he shut the front door behind them. "Thank Merlin."

"Oh, hush. It wasn't that bad." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I fancy you even enjoyed yourself."

"Do you now?" he mused, grabbing onto her waist. "Now why would you think that, Mrs. Snape?"

Chills ran down Hermione's spine at his words. She still could't believe it. She was his. They were married, together till death do they part. She grinned. "Maybe because you were actually smiling while we were away."

"Well of course," he said with a light smirk. "We were in Italy, a country filled with people whose native language isn't _English_. It was quite refreshing to avoid speaking to moronic people every day."

She laughed. "But you speak Italian! You could have still talked with them if you had wished-"

"They needn't know that," he said, drawing her even closer to him. His lips came down over hers in a light kiss. "What do you say we move this to the bedroom?" he murmured.

She breathed in, inhaling his deep, musky scent... "Lovely," she muttered, her eyes fluttering shut as her mouth found his-

_Knock, knock, knock._

Severus turned around, his hand still on his new wife's waist as he glared at the door. "Who the ruddy hell-"

Hermione sighed. "It's probably Harry. I told him we'd be back today."

A glare overcame his features as he turned back to his wife. "And why in the name of Merlin would you do that?"

She rolled her eyes as she pulled away from him, stepping towards the front door. "Well obviously I hadn't foreseen this." Taking a quick breath, she opened the door, a forced smile upon her face. "Harry!"

Her friend grinned back at her. "Welcome home, love," he said, throwing his arms around her as Severus snarled. "We've all missed you immensely!" Harry pulled back and nodded towards Hermione's new husband. "Severus."

"Potter."

Harry smirked. "Now, now, Professor. If you insist on sleeping with my best friend, you're going to have to learn to call me by my first name."

Hermione swatted him on the arm. "Harry!"

But the dark haired boy just chuckled, slipping out of his jacket. "Have time for tea?"

"Of course," she said, leading her friend into the house, much to Serverus' annoyance. "Make yourself at home."

He settled himself on one of Hermione's barstools, and after a moment's hesitation, Severus followed suit. "So tell me," Harry said. "How was Italy?"

"Overly warm," she admitted as she poured water into the kettle. "But lovely, nonetheless."

"Did you two just get back?"

"Yes. Oh, Harry, it was absolutely beautiful! You must go there sometime. There are these quaint little villages filled to the brim with goblin knowledge. So much about the goblin wars are in them-"

"Sounds fascinating," Harry said dryly.

"It was! Oh," she turned to Severus as the kettle started to whistle. "Severus, do you remember the small town outside of Naples? The one with the dark alley that led to the magical part of the town? What was it?"

"Belladonna, I believe," he said. It had been particularly easy for him to remember this town, as it had been named after a poisonous plant he frequently cultivated for his potions.

"Oh, that's right!" She turned back to Harry as she began to pour the tea. "Anyway, in Belladonna, there was this small little bookstore near the center of the magical community."

"A rather large apothecary was beside it," Severus added, a small smile forming on his face.

"Yes! And in that bookstore, there were hundreds of books on the goblin wars."

"Given that the wars were a part of the town's history, the vast majority of the bookstore pertained to them," Severus clarified.

"Really," Harry said, his eyes slightly glazed over as he accepted his tea from Hermione.

"And there was this marvelous tea house right around the block. Severus took me there one afternoon, and we met a historian. He was, apparently, researching the wars himself and had spent the past two years living in Belladonna."

"He had a lot of... interesting facts," Severus said with a smirk.

"You didn't mind speaking Italian to him," Hermione laughed.

"Not at all. He could actually hold an intelligent conversation. He even managed to keep you interested. That's no easy feat," he remarked.

"Well you certainly manage it well enough," she giggled, laying one of her hands on his arm.

"I should hope so," he said, leaning in towards her.

"Merlin, I've made a huge mistake!"

The couple jumped, turning to face Harry as he stood up, slipping his coat on. "Sorry," Hermione said with a wince. "We'll try and keep the snogging to a minimum. We didn't mean to scare you."

"It's not that," Harry insisted, before pausing. "Well actually, it's sort of that. It's incredibly bizarre to witness your ex-potions professor snog your best friend, but that's not why I have to go." He ran his hand through his hair. "I've made a huge mistake. Seeing you two here together, happy and in love... You complete each other. You're perfect for each other. You have what I've always wanted, what I've craved... What I once had with Ginny. So what if she lied to me? She was young and immature... She's grown up now. I should've known that she'd... I shouldn't have broken up with her like that- I have to go."

And with one last look at the newlywed couple, he was out the door, hurrying off to find Ginny. Silence filled the kitchen for a moment, before Severus sighed in relief, bringing his wife's lips down to his own. "It's about time he left," he said. "Now. Where were we?"

* * *

Hey everyone! Sorry for taking so long to update; I just graduated this weekend! I'm now officially a college student! Woot!

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Just as a quick teaser, I'll leave you with the title of the next chapter... It's Prank Gone Wrong... Feel free to speculate on what that means!

If you enjoyed this, then please check out my new oneshot starring Lucy Weasley! It's a completely original take on her (which is something that you _never_ hear anymore), so please review and tell me what you think!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	31. Prank Gone Wrong

_Prank Gone Wrong_

Before they knew it, school had begun again, and Severus was back to teaching potions at Hogwarts. The commute was hard, and the long nights he spent patrolling the castle corridors were tedious, but he and Hermione made it work. She had turned twenty-three, and begun her new job at St. Mungo's near the end of the summer, and was quickly moving up in the Healing Center.

The newlyweds were invited to the Burrow mid-October for Angelina's birthday, and after a great amount of coercion on Hermione's part, Severus finally agreed to go.

Hermione and Severus sat outside with Ginny and Harry that day. The reunited couple was holding hands, sitting blissfully side by side in a manner that repulsed Severus slightly. Various other members of the Weasley clan sat with them, chatting amicably with each other as they all looked on at the mayhem of red-heads playing Quidditch before them.

"I can't believe Luna puts up with him," Ginny muttered as Ron threw the Quaffle with purpose towards Charlie's head.

"I still can't believe they're dating," Harry said with a shake of his head.

"It _is_ rather bizarre," Hermione admitted.

"No more bizarre than your sudden friendship with young Malfoy, Mr. Potter," Severus pointed out, taking a sip of his firewhiskey.

"Call me Harry," the young man corrected. "And I suppose you're right. The fact that Draco is actually capable of being cordial..."

"Is he coming today? I mean, Angelina did invite him, right?" Ginny asked.

Harry snorted. "Out of sheer politeness. But I do recall Draco saying he and Astoria might stop by."

Hermione laughed. "Strange."

"Very."

"Mind if I join you?" Katie asked, an awake infant on her hip as she slipped into the seat beside Hermione.

"Not at all," she smiled, reaching out to grab the little boy's hand. "And hello to you, Logan," she crooned. "What is he now, six months old?"

"Almost a year, actually."

She looked up, startled. "A year! Merlin, how the time has flown."

"You said it," Katie laughed. "He's already a little trouble-maker, just like his father."

"I'm sure that just warms Fred's heart," she laughed. "Mind if I hold him?"

"Not at all," she said, passing the boy over to her. "Watch his head."

"I've got him, haven't I Logan?" she smiled, ducking a bit as he made to grab her nose.

"Careful," Severus said, reaching forward to take the child's hand.

"Don't worry, Severus. I've got this under control. Right, little man?" she asked, making a face. The boy laughed, and she chuckled with him. "Think I'm funny, do you?"

Severus watched her, a bemused look in his eye. Was she really that sweet with children? All children? She was so gentle, so caring... She would have made a great mother if he had wanted children. And yet...

He was pulled from his musings by a loud shriek as George's son, David, fell to the ground crying. The large snake in front of him disappeared, and George bent down to lift his son up. "It's all right," he soothed. "Daddy's got you." He then turned on Fred. "I told you it wouldn't work!"

"I thought he would laugh," his twin protested.

"He's three, Fred. At his age, I wouldn't find the sudden appearance of a large snake before me very funny, either!"

"Well at least now he won't be in Slytherin," Fred shrugged as Angelina ran over to hold her sobbing son.

* * *

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Hermione asked later that night as she put her handbag away. "I mean, apart from Fred scaring Little Davy half to death."

"That was long and frightfully dull," Severus said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, you had fun."

"There were _far_ too many Weasleys around for my taste."

"Well, it wasn't as if you couldn't have anticipated that," she said with a small laugh as she went to make coffee.

An arm around her waist, however, stopped her. "Hermione," Severus said, a note of hesitation taking over his voice.

She turned to face him. "Something the matter?"

He opened his mouth, before quickly closing it again. Severus sighed. "You want children."

Her eyes tightened. _Not now,_ she thought. _I'm happy. I don't want to argue now_. "Severus, please. Can we do this at a later time?"

"We should discuss this-"

"If it needs urgent discussing, then we probably should have done so before we got married," she said, wary of the conversation that would follow.

But Severus just repeated himself. "You want kids."

She paused, but then nodded. "It would be nice. Preferable, actually. I've always liked children."

"How many?"

"One or two. Maybe three." She frowned. "That's hardly the point, though."

"I see."

"You don't want them. Understandable, really. And I would love to argue the point with you, but since I see no reason to have children so early in our marriage while I'm so young, there really is no purpose in our fighting about this now-"

"I love you," he said suddenly.

She blinked. "A bit out of the blue, but a lovely sentiment, nonetheless. Care to tell me what made you say that?"

He scowled. "Hold your tongue, you impertinent woman. What I mean is that you are... important to me. You're my wife and I... care for you."

"Right. Believe it or not, I'd actually managed to ascertain as much from the 'I love you' comment."

"What I mean is... I wouldn't be entirely... adverse to having children. With you. One day."

Her mouth dropped open as she gazed at him. "What brought about the sudden change of heart?"

"You just looked so... serene with the Weasley boy in your lap today. I couldn't stop myself from imagining what it would be like to have _my_ child in your arms, instead," he said, not quite meeting her eyes.

She smiled softly. "Is it a pretty picture?"

"Flawless. Our child looked much better than _Logan Weasley_ did in your arms."

She reached up, drawing him to her. "Thank you, Severus," she said, placing a small kiss on his lips. "Really."

"Of course, Hermione," he whispered back. A small smirk formed on his face. "Besides, if you do eventually become pregnant, I may be able to convince Minerva to let me out of my patrol duties at night."

* * *

Hey everyone! Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to silver-nightstorm, the winner of the Graduation Competition! Her oneshot Time of Your Life is truly amazing, so you should all go check it out!

In addition to that, if you want to enter a competition yourself, than check out my current challenge over at the Harry Potter FanFiction Forums thread called Pieces of a Wedding Competition. It'll be a lot of fun, and I hope some of you will enter! Whoever does will get the next _three_ chapter titles... And that means a lot because I won't be able to update this for a week or so since I'll be out of town...

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	32. Drunken Admission

_"Drunken Admission"_

The weeks wore on and the beginning of November found Hermione at Grimmauld Place, playing a rather heated game of truth or dare with Draco, Ginny, Harry, and Ron. It had been a new game for all of the wizarding children; Harry and Hermione had taken it upon themselves to teach the others. Ginny had, of course, taken to it right away, and had proclaimed it her new favorite game, whereas the other two boys were more reserved.

Ron was the one who had initiated the event, saying that since Luna was busy working that night, they should all get together and have a small party. Since Astoria was visiting her sister in France, Draco had quickly agreed. It didn't take long for Harry to convince Molly Weasley to babysit for Teddy Lupin, and before Hermione knew it, she was sitting in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, a bottle of firewhiskey in her hand. The whole lot of them had been consuming massive amounts of alcohol throughout the night, and was slightly tipsy.

Generally, Hermione tended to avoid this sort of drunken tomfoolery. However, Severus was working late reorganizing his storage room after a particularly unfortunate incident on Halloween involving an escaped bat and Peeves. She was rather lonely without him there, so she had turned to Harry, hoping that he would be able to take her mind off of her troubles.

Marauder lay at his master's feet, as Harry took another swig of firewhiskey. "All right now," he said, a grin in place. "Come on, Draco. Truth or dare?"

The blond boy scowled. "What makes you think I wish to partake in such an insipid muggle game?"

"The fact that we have the liquor you're looking for, and the only way you're receiving it is through playing along," Ginny said with a raised eyebrow. "So tell us, Malfoy. Truth or dare?"

He rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment before sighing, answering in a rather dejected voice: "Truth."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Of course you'd say that," he muttered. "You lack Gryffindor courage."

The Slytherin flexed his jaw for a moment, but said nothing, choosing instead to focus on Harry as the Boy Who Lived began to speak once more. "All right, Draco. Since you've never played before, we'll give you a rather easy one to start with. How serious are things... between you and Astoria?"

But he was already shaking his head. "Nope. Sorry, next question."

Hermione just laughed. "That's not how the game works, Malfoy."

"Yeah," Harry said with a small grin. "When you pick truth, you _have_ to answer the question asked. You don't have a choice."

"It's not as if this game is magically binding," he pointed out.

But Harry just gave a rather wolfish grin. "Yet."

So Draco had no choice but to roll his eyes, taking a sip of his firewhiskey as he did so. "How are things between me and Astoria? Horrible, that's how."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. It hadn't seemed like that to her the last time she had seen the pair together. Granted, they did argue quite a bit, but then again, so did she and Severus... "But I thought you two got along splendidly."

"We used to, but she's getting terribly attached, and it's become bloody annoying," he said, slamming his glass down on the table. "I need my space!"

"I'm sure that makes her extremely happy," Hermione said dryly.

"Yes," Ginny chimed in. "It is, after all, every woman's dream to be told that they are far _too_ in love."

A sneer managed to creep its way onto his face. "What do you know? You have a perfectly happy, stable relationship with _Potter_, of all people."

Harry frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

But Ginny just ignored him. "Draco, do you love Astoria?"

"Well, I suppose. But-"

"Then she's not overtly attached, you daft prat," Ron jumped in, leaning forward slightly to scratch at the ears of Marauder. "She's just showing affection. Show her a little respect and appreciation. You could do worse, you know."

Draco's upper lip curled as he glared at the redhead. "I answered the question. Does this mean I get to ask one of my own, now?"

Harry frowned. "Well, yeah, but-"

"Then Weasley," Draco interjected with volume. "Tell me. How are things going with you and Looney?"

"Luna," Ron corrected with a roll of his eyes. Hermione silently marveled at his self-control. Here he was, slightly tipsy from the amount of alcohol he'd managed to intake that evening, and yet he was still managing to keep his temper. A year ago, a comment like that would have sent him into a blind rage. Luna really _was_ good for him. "And we're absolutely perfect."

Draco scoffed. "Of course you are. And I'm the next heir to Potter's throne of altruistic tendencies."

"Of course things are going well, Malfoy," Ron said before taking a quick swig of his drink. "I wouldn't have married her if they weren't."

There was a large pause as silence permeated the room. Hermione blinked, her mind foggy from all of the liquor. It was for this reason that it took her a moment to understand what had just been said... "You what?"

"Married her," Ron said simply. "Honestly, are you deaf?"

"Ron, when did you get married?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"Two weekends ago," he said, a small frown overtaking his features. "Why? Didn't I tell you?" The group collectively shook their heads, in awe by the sudden revelation. "Really?" Suddenly, Ron straightened up a bit. "Oh! That's right. We eloped to keep it out of the papers and away from the prying eyes of others. You lot included." He paused, biting his lower lip for a moment before he shrugged. "Whoops."

And that was when the group exploded.

* * *

Hey everyone! Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to silver-nightstorm, the winner of the Graduation Competition! Her oneshot Time of Your Life is truly amazing, so you should all go check it out!

In addition to that, if you want to enter a competition yourself, than check out my current challenge over at the Harry Potter FanFiction Forums thread called Pieces of a Wedding Competition. It'll be a lot of fun, and I hope some of you will enter! Whoever does will get the next _three_ chapter titles...

Also, please check out my twoshot A Challenge of Epic Proportions! It's probably my favorite thing that I've written in awhile...

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	33. A Bad Habit

_"A Bad Habit"_

Ron's new marriage came as a shock to the majority of the Weasley clan, however what was an even bigger surprise to both Severus and Hermione was the fact that he had been able to keep it a secret for so long. Despite the unorthodox way in which both the marriage and the revelation of it had taken place, the majority of the wizarding world was happy for the couple, and wished them nothing but a fortunate life together.

The Christmas season was a surprisingly stressful time for Hermione. While she was, on the one hand, excited about the prospect of Severus being home for the entire two weeks Hogwarts students didn't have school, she also found herself putting in more hours at her job at St. Mungo's. Apparently, the holiday season gave people an excuse to commit completely asinine actions. She was still shaking her head over having to reattach the arm of a sixteen year old boy who'd accepted the dare to sneak up on a hippogriff from his friends.

People could be _so _stupid sometimes.

She was consuming mass amounts of caffeinated tea in order to keep up with her new schedule, and yet she was still feeling relatively tired most of the time.

Severus would just shake his head at her. "That stuff is horrible for you," he'd mutter.

"Would you prefer I go to work with _firewhiskey_ as my aid for the day?" Hermione asked, an eyebrow raised.

A small smirk twitched on the corner of his lips. "Not at all. Gin would be the best option."

"Ah, of course."

Hermione didn't really care for the excess caffeine in the tea. In truth, she preferred something milder, like green tea, or a special mix of herbal tea. But she found it so incredibly hard to work those long hours without any type of aid, and so she continued to drink the strong liquid.

Severus was, oddly enough, extremely supportive of her during the holiday season, and even had dinner ready by the time she got home. Granted, most of the food came from the Leaky Cauldron, but Hermione was still uncharacteristically touched by such a simple gesture.

She knew he was perfect.

When she woke up ill one morning, Severus insisted she return to bed, even though she claimed she felt better immediately after she had retched up the contents of her stomach. "It was probably the tea, Severus," she's said with a roll of her eyes. "I _did_ have an awful lot of it yesterday. It was probably too much."

He appeared to still be slightly concerned, but he looked mollified, none the less. "I told you that vile stuff would kill you."

"It won't if I adjust the dosage," she argued back.

However, when she woke up sick for a second day in a row, they knew the tea wasn't the cause. Severus cast a medical charm to assess her vitals, frowning to himself. "You don't have a fever," he muttered.

"I didn't expect to have one. I feel fine."

"You obviously would not have said that a moment ago when you were leaning over the toilet," Severus snapped.

"Yes, well... Maybe I have some sort of special sickness that only presents itself in the mornings..." she trailed off, her eyes locking with Severus' as they stared at each other, surprised suspicion covering both of their faces. "Do you suppose..."

"Perhaps you should check," he said stiffly.

Hermione swallowed, pulling out her wand. She remembered a time over two years ago when she sat with Ginny, waiting for the same results. Taking a deep breath, she reached for her husband's hand before casting the spell, letting it wash over herself.

A soft pink color engulfed her for a moment before it faded completely.

She was pregnant.

They sat together on the couch, his hand in her own, as silence filled the room. Hermione's mind raced around her at the implications of the pregnancy test. She was pregnant. She was going to have a child. She was going to be a mother.

Shock was too gentle a word to describe what she was feeling. She couldn't believe this was happening to _her_. When Ginny had been afraid she was pregnant, Hermione had been able to fully chastise the young witch for her lack of birth control. She'd even been slightly annoyed at the younger girls irresponsibility. But now?

How could it be her? How could she be pregnant? She and Severus had always been careful...

But it was a moot point, The damage was done; she was going to give birth.

That was, of course, unless they decided to abort. She bit her lip. Is that what she wanted? She _did_ want children. She wanted a proper family. But _now_? She was so young... If she wasn't pregnant, she could have a career and a _life_ before she settled down into the matriarchal role.

And yet... She could still have a career. She might have to put it on hold for a few months, maybe take maternity leave, but St. Mungo's had a daycare center. She could work and care for her child at the same time. She was always brilliant at multi-tasking. Why would this be any different?

She was jarred from her thoughts by Severus as he gently brushed the back of his hand. "Do you wish to discuss this?"

She slowly shook her head. "I... I'm not sure."

"You need time to think by yourself," he concluded.

"Yes."

He nodded his head, exhaling quickly. "I see. You should know that I will support whatever decision you deem best, understand? You do what you think it right."

She turned to face him sharply. "You don't want this child."

He shook his head. "I didn't say that."

"But you don't care one way or another if we have this baby or not?"

"Hermione." He ran his fingers through her hair. "I've never been fond of children. What I _have_ enjoyed, however, is making you happy. While I may not desire children at all... I'd be willing to make an exception in this particular case."

"You sound oh-so excited," she said with a roll of her eyes.

But he just kissed her on the forehead. "Take the day off and think about it, Hermione. I trust that you'll be able to make whatever decision is right for you."

As he stood to leave her alone, she looked after him, biting her lip as she began to weigh the pros and cons of young motherhood.

* * *

It wasn't until after eleven that night that she crept into their bedroom, moving quietly to crawl into bed bedside Severus. As she curled up against him he rolled over, giving her a quick kiss. "Hello," he muttered.

"Hi," she breathed, running her hand over his cheek. Merlin, how she loved him. He'd let her think for the entire day by herself about a choice that would affect the both of them. He cared about her, about how she lived. He loved her. He may not always express that in words, but he truly did care for her.

"So... I've made my decision," she said after a moment's pause.

She could feel him stiffen slightly under his touch, but he said nothing about that. "And?"

"Are you sure you feel up to becoming a father?" she asked, a slight smile sliding onto her face.

There was a moment's pause as the meaning behind her words sank in. Then Severus pulled her up and on top of him as he kissed her hard. He pulled back after a moment so she could see his smirk. "I guess you'll have to give up that awful excuse for tea after all."

She rolled her eyes. "Why don't I just market pregnancy as a way to break bad habits, then? I could make millions of gallons."

He chuckled. "No doubt," he said, before he kissed her again.

* * *

Hey everyone! I absolutely adore this chapter, and I hope you do too!

I have some BIGish news! Basically, I've entered a lovely, eight month long competition here on , and I'd really love to win it! Since it goes on for so long, I REALLY need feedback on the story. Each chapter is a oneshot (kind of like this one), and I'll only be posting one chapter a week, so it won't be too much reading.

Please, please, please go and review it for me! The story is called Hidden Lives, and all you have to do is tell me what you think. If you like it, if it's boring, if it sucks... if you want to give a more detailed review, that's more than appreciated! Thank you, in advanced!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	34. I'm not a Prize to be Won

_"I am not a prize to be won!"_

News of Hermione's pregnancy came as a shock to everyone. All of Hermione's friends knew that she was destined to be a career woman; the fact that she was suddenly planning to start a family was incredibly bizarre.

Once the initial shock had worn down, however, Harry found the entire situation hilarious. "I knew it," he had said, a light chuckle in his voice. "I _knew_ you two went at it like rabbits."

"Harry!"

"What?" he'd asked, feigning innocence. "It's not as if he has any other redeeming qualities."

Ginny had also been fairly amused, telling Hermione that she should learn from her brother's mistake and not take the child on a broom within its first few months. "I swear George nearly dropped David," she had said in disgust, shaking her head.

Fred and George were, oddly enough, hesitant to even discuss Hermione's impending motherhood, though it seemed that she was the only person surprised by this. "Well what else did you expect?" Severus had asked her late one night after she had voiced her concerns. "To them, you'll always be stubborn little Hermione Granger, their baby brother's annoyingly persistent best friend. I'm sure they don't want to view you as one to participate in carnal acts, let alone with your old professor."

Ron was, unsurprisingly, disgusted with the entire event, and would quickly change the subject to avoid conversing with Hermione about her child. "Can we talk about something else?" he'd ask, his hands coming up over his ears. "I have no desire to ruin my appetite by discussing Snape's spawn."

Hermione wasn't the only one who was facing inquiries about the advances in her relationship, however. Severus found himself being whispered about in the halls of Hogwarts, and pointed to when students believed he wasn't looking.

"I can't believe she's _pregnant_."

"Well they _are_ married."

"Didn't take him long to knock her up, though, did it?"

"Who, in the name of Merlin, would sleep with _him_."

He generally ignored the talk, choosing instead to spend all of his time and energy in making the lives of his gossip-loving students hell by assigning extra homework, detentions, and whatnot.

In truth, he was almost having fun.

At least, that had been the case until Minerva had gotten ahold of him. She had stormed into his room, a rolled up copy of the _Prophet_ in her hand, her lips drawn tightly together. She'd stopped before him and proceeded to scowl until he'd looked up. "Yes?"

"Have you seen the latest headlines regarding your recent escapades?" she had said slowly, lowering the paper onto his desk.

"I try not to read that dribble," he had said dryly. "I've found it actually makes people even more moronic than they already are."

"But you _do_ know what it's saying about you and Hermione?"

"Of course I do, Minerva. Do you think me incapable of keeping tabs on my own affairs?" He then took a quick sip of his tea. "No, I suspect it was Mr. Weasley who leaked the news to the press."

Her mouth had fallen open. "So it's true?"

"Of course it is. Does it appear that I'm spending an inordinate amount of time writing the _Daily Prophet _a retraction letter- Hey!" He'd reached up to rub at the top of his head where Minerva had hit him with the paper, a glare in place upon his face. "Was that really necessary?"

But all Minerva did was shake her head, rolling up the newspaper that she had just hit him over the head with. "You're a fool, Severus. I suppose Hermione bullied you into this?"

"Actually, she made the decision herself after the test turned positive-"

"You mean this wasn't _planned_?" she had demanded, a note of incredulity sounding in her voice.

Severus had scoffed. "Of course not!"

She'd just shaken her head once more. "You really are a fool."

And that was that.

However, the one person that Severus _hadn't _heard anything from was Draco Malfoy. He was feeling a little put out that the blond boy hadn't taken it upon himself to congratulate him, or at the very least, mock him mercilessly for whatever reason young Malfoy deemed necessary.

And so, when the weekend rolled around and Severus could spare some time away from both the castle and his now pregnant wife, he took off, heading over towards Draco's new flat. It was much smaller than the manor that Draco used to reside in, but it was a huge improvement from the impoverished apartment that he had rented a little over a year ago.

Severus had his own key for emergencies, so, like Draco, he didn't hesitate in letting himself in. Once he was inside the flat, however, it soon became apparent to him that Draco was not alone.

"I don't know why you're being so bloody difficult," Severus heard Draco grumble.

"Why I'm- Are you mad? You want me to quit my job!" Astoria Greengrass yelled back at him.

"You really don't need to work, you know. You _have_ money. Not only that, but I've just become manager at the bar, and-"

"And you got a raise. Congratulations, Draco. That doesn't mean I'm going to quit my bloody job!"

After a moments' hesitation, Severus decided to stay put in the foyer and eavesdrop on the conversation. A small smirk quickly slid onto his features. Hmm... this could be fun.

"You deserve to be taken care of!" Draco argued.

"I deserve to do what's right for me!"

"Damn it, Astoria! Why do you always do this? Why do you always start fights with me?"

Severus could almost hear her blanch. "Why do I... Are you mad _and_ daft? You're the problem in this relationship, not me!"

"I am not-"

"You want me to quit my job! How is that not a problem?"

Severus' ears perked up. This was slowly becoming more entertaining... "I can take care of you now, Astoria. Please-"

"I don't want to be taken care of!"

"You have to let me do this-"

"No!"

"How can I propose to you, Astoria, if you won't even let me win you over!"

A pause filled the apartment, and Severus mentally sighed to himself. Ah, great. Now the sappiness would begin and the drama would end. And just when it was getting interesting too...

"Propose? As in marriage? You want to propose?"

Draco huffed, his breath coming out loudly from the other room. "Of _course_ I want to bloody propose, Astoria! You're absolutely perfect. Who else could be better for me? No, you're the one." Severus rolled his eyes. Was that how he and Hermione sounded when they fought and made up? They weren't that sappy... were they? "And yet I can't prove my worthiness to you and deserve you if you don't let me!"

"Draco, I'm not a prize to be won!" she said back, though Severus noted a relatively pleasant tone to her voice, one that had been absent earlier. "You don't have to prove anything to me. I love you, and I would be honored to marry you."

"Yeah?" He said, his voice perking up. There was a brief rustle, and then the sound of lips smacking together. "I love you too!"

The rustling continued, and Severus rolled his eyes, knowing that it was most definitely time for him to leave. As he departed, however, he couldn't help but smirk to himself. As far as he was concerned, this made him and Draco even: Draco couldn't really mock him for Hermione's unceremonious pregnancy without being ridiculed for the asinine way in which he'd inadvertently proposed to Astoria.

Life was good.

* * *

Hey everyone! I hope you like this chapter; the next one is called Beach, so stay tuned for that!

Remember to please, please, please go and review Hidden Lives! I really need feedback for the competition, and all you have to do is tell me what you think. If you like it, if it's boring, if it sucks... if you want to give a more detailed review, that's more than appreciated! Thank you, in advanced!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	35. Beach

_Beach_

The early days of May soon overtook them all, and the weather slowly became nicer. Word of Draco's engagement to Astoria soon broke out, and before long, the knowledge was released to the papers. Within the four or so months of their engagement, the two of them had broken up twice. Astoria had even begun the process of moving out at one point, and yet they somehow managed to survive the fight. Their wedding was set for Christmas of the following year.

Severus couldn't help but be amused by their childish antics, though he supposed he should begin getting used to such unruly behavior. Hermione, on the other hand, was slowly growing, her stomach getting bigger and bigger as her pregnancy continued.

To his surprise, Severus found that he actually enjoyed having her pregnant. Not only did it reinforce his claim on his beautiful woman and make known to the entire wizarding community that she was taken, but it also made her particularly randy at night...

It was in the middle of Hermione's six month in her pregnancy that she received an invitation from Bill and Fleur to come and visit them at their beach cottage in the country. Harry, Ginny, and Teddy Lupin would be there as well, due to a speech Harry was giving on the Dark Arts at Beauxbatons a week later. Hermione was thrilled by the invitation; she had always liked Bill, and to get the opportunity to catch up with him was amazing.

It took a bit of convincing, but once Minerva promised him the weekend off, Severus agreed to accompany her on the trip. They arrived at the cottage late in the evening on a Friday, Severus toting the bags along, and were surprised when the door was immediately flung open by Fleur.

"'Ello! Oh, Bill," she called back up the stairs. "Bill! Zey are here!"

Hermione blanched for a moment as she stared in surprise at the blond before her and the slightly round stomach that protruded from beneath her tunic. "Fleur," she said, as the French woman's arms came around her. "It's been so long-"

"Too true, Hermione." She pulled back, giving the younger girl a smile. "I 'ave yet to see you pregnant. It is nice to no longer be ze only one, no?"

"No- Er, yes," she said, giving Severus a wide-eyed look begging for mercy. She had always felt awkward around Fleur, probably due to her total disdain for the overtly girly attitude the blond usually sported.

Luckily for her, Severus stepped forward, his voice smooth as he spoke. "Thank you so much for having us, Mrs. Weasley."

"Oh, please. Call me Fleur. Mrs. Weasley makes me zound old," she said, wrinkling her nose, as behind her Bill appeared carrying a little girl in his arms.

"We can't have that, can we?" he joked, kissing Fleur lightly on the lips before he turned to the two travelers. "Hermione! Severus! How nice of you to join us. Come in, please."

They stepped into the room, the door shutting behind them with magic. "Is that little Victoire I see?" Hermione asked, staring at the small redhead in her father's arms.

"Yes. Nearly three, she is."

"Zey grow up so fast," Fleur added, taking a seat in a small leather armchair.

"You'll find out soon enough," Bill mentioned, gesturing towards her stomach as she and Severus sat down. "I see you have one of your own along the way. Do you know what it will be?"

Severus fought the urge to roll his eyes. The Weasley boy spoke as if this was some insipid guessing game, and not a discussion about his child... "No. We are waiting until the birth to find out."

"Really? I don't know if I 'ould possibly do zat," Fleur commentated. "Ze moment I found out I was pregnant again, I went immediately to ze healers and learned of ze baby's sex. We even 'ave a name picked out, though we cannot tell you what."

"Oh?" Hermione asked, feigning politeness. "So which are you having?"

She smiled across the room at her husband. "Another girl."

"Congratulations," she said with a small smile. She gave a nudge to Severus, drawing him out of the thoughts he'd retreated to out of boredom, so that he could murmur his own well-wishes.

"Zank you. Oh! But where are my manners? Please, you two must be tired. Let me show you to your rooms."

"That would be lovely, thank you," Severus said, rising from the chair he had claimed.

"Hermione," Bill called out, halting her retreat. "A word, if you will." She raised her eyebrows at her husband before waving him on as she sat back down. Severus clenched his teeth together, knowing that the ensuing conversation would be about him. But he left anyway. "You do look good, you know."

She blinked. "Uh, thank you."

"Ginny and Harry took Teddy to the beach for awhile. Sorry about that. We would have delayed them had we known you'd be arriving so soon."

"It's all right," she said, crossing her legs.

"Listen," he said after a slightly awkward pause. "I just... wanted to touch base with you. Make sure that everything is going well."

She frowned. "Everything is fine."

"Right, but what I mean is... Your life. Is everything... good?"

She rolled her eyes. "And I repeat: Everything is fine." She paused as Bill let out a bark of nervous laughter. "Bill, what are you really trying to ask me here?"

He sighed. "I can't believe you married that man."

Her mouth dropped open; she was startled. "Well I did."

"He didn't... force you into anything, did he?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Just what are you trying to imply, Bill?"

He raised his hands, as if to ward off the attack he knew was coming for his stern words. "I'm just a little worried about you, Hermione. You up and start dating Snape, out of the blue. You get married younger than I had ever _dreamed _you would. And now you're pregnant. Are you happy with these events?"

"Very," she said, no hesitation present in her voice.

"Are you sure-"

"Extremely."

He smiled wryly. "You know that you can talk to me if you need to, right?"

Despite the awkward conversation that had preceded the genuine sentiment, Hermione couldn't help but smile. "Of course, Bill. What else are friends for?"

* * *

The rest of the weekend passed in a far less eventful manner. Days were spent lounging outside by the sea, nights were spent indoors, listening to wizarding-hits and staying up for hours talking with her friends. Victoire and Teddy got along well and occupied their time building sandcastles and chasing each other around Bill's property.

Severus was, of course, severely annoyed by Bill's confrontation with his wife, and even threatened to go home if he was going to be treated like an abusive man, but in the end, Hermione convinced him to stay.

On the last night of their mini vacation, Severus and Hermione managed to get away from the rest of the group. They settled down together on the beach, walking up and down the sandy shores as they gazed up at the cliff that held Bill's house.

"It's beautiful out here tonight," Hermione murmured, leaning her head against Severus' shoulder.

"Indeed," he replied, slipping his hand gently into her own. He noticed the slightly raised flesh on her arm. "Are you cold? Perhaps we should get back inside-"

"I'm fine, Severus. Just happy to be with you."

The smallest of smiles escaped onto his face. "I'm pleased to hear that." They walked in silence for a few more moments before Severus finally spoke again. "You don't think we're terribly behind, do you?"

She tilted her head to look up at him. "At what?"

"Names and such." He glanced down at her confused face. "You know. For the baby."

"Oh." Her brow furrowed. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well Weasley and Fleur-"

"Are a _Weasley_ and a doting mother. Of course they already have names picked out. They've probably named their next thirty children. That doesn't mean we have to do the same."

Severus shook his head. "I feel so unprepared."

"For the name?"

"For everything. What do I know about children? Other than their extremely tedious moronic tendencies and their desire to fight anything that moves?"

"You think I know much more? All I do is read and study... That will be really helpful once the child goes to school, but until then?" she laughed. "Not so much."

He smiled wryly down at her. "I guess we're both a little unprepared for this, aren't we?"

"Undoubtably."

"Well then. At least we have each other."

She smiled back up at him, stopping their stroll in order to give him a kiss. "Yes. At least we have each other."

* * *

Hey everyone! I hope you like this chapter; the next one is called Pain, so good luck guessing what that means...

By the way, I have a new poll up on my profile concerning this story, so you should check it out...

Please read my Harry/Ginny oneshot Epiphanies of Romance! It's amusing and pretty short; if you enjoy this story, you'll like it!

Remember to please, please, please go and review Hidden Lives! I really need feedback for the competition, and all you have to do is tell me what you think. If you like it, if it's boring, if it sucks... if you want to give a more detailed review, that's more than appreciated! Thank you, in advanced!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	36. Pain

_Pain_

"Mrs. Snape, you're going to have to push now," the healer noted, a hint of frustration evident in his voice.

"Are you insane? You want me to _push_? Have you even _heard_ the watermelon through the straw analogy?"

It was mid-August when Hermione finally went into labor. She had been reading by the fire one Sunday evening, her feet in Severus' lap, when she'd suddenly started having contractions. The pain was shocking at first, and she's screamed, forgetting that her overly paranoid husband sat beside her.

"What?" Severus had asked, reaching for his wand as his eyes darted around the room. Was there an intruder? Was someone putting a curse on her?

"Get me to St. Mungo's," she muttered through clenched teeth as she clutched at her abdomen. "Now!"

Of course, once she'd actually arrived there, she was told by a multitude of healers that unless she wanted to magically induce labor, she wouldn't be ready to deliver the baby for a few more days. But she had only gritted her teeth at them. She _worked _there. That meant that they all knew her. Did they really think she'd want to wait for an even longer amount of time? "You mean I'll have these bloody contractions for a _few more days_? Don't be daft! Get this child out of me!"

Ginny, Harry, and Draco were called to the scene. Astoria, Ron, and Luna were notified as well, though Luna and Astoria both had to work, and Ron refused to be present when the "Snape spawn" was brought into the world. While the two boys who came to show their support chose to pace in the lobby, Ginny joined Severus in the delivery room. The only problem: Hermione was being a little difficult...

"Hermione," Severus said, his voice filled with a patience that he did _not_ possess. "Please, listen to the healers-"

"You don't get to talk," she snapped back, clutching at the white sheets before her. "This is all your ruddy fault, you know!"

"I highly doubt that," he shot back, running a hand uncharacteristically through his hair.. "Last I checked, you participated quite thoroughly in all of our sexual activities."

The healer turned to Ginny. "Would you perhaps curtail them back to the task at hand?"

"Oh that I could," the redhead witch muttered.

"Oh, really? Well we'll see if we ever have sex again, then!"

But to her fury, Severus just raised an eyebrow. "And punish us both? You wouldn't dream of it."

"Uh, you guys?" Ginny interrupted, a look of amusement on her face. "As interesting and... terribly awkward as this entire conversation is, perhaps you ought to follow the healer's advice and push. What do you say, Hermione?"

"If it will get this bloody child out of me," she muttered.

Severus smirked. "You _are_ rather ineloquent while in labor, my dear."

"Severus!"

"All right, Mrs. Snape," the healer interrupted. "Please, I need you to push!"

"Fine! You don't have to be so damn rude about it- Ahhhh!"

"Why is she screaming? Should she be screaming?"

"Please, Mr. Snape. She's fine. Just hold her hand and talk her through this," the healer replied.

"You're doing great, Hermione," Ginny soothed.

"How would you know?" the brunette panted.

"See," the healer said, gesturing towards Ginny. "Just like that."

A glare formed on Severus' face as he took his wife's hand. "I think I understand the principles of being supportive, thank you."

"Fine. Ready Mrs. Snape? Push!"

"Ahhhh!"

Severus cursed, pulling his hand away from his wife. "Are you _trying _to tear my hand off?"

"Severus, you had better shut the hell up if you ever want me in your bed again!"

* * *

"It's a boy," the healer said almost an entire hour later, presenting the new mother with a tiny little infant swaddled in light blue blankets.

"A boy," she breathed, taking the baby into her arms. Her hair was matted around her face and sweat permeated her skin, but she didn't care. Her eyes were locked on those of her son as he stared blankly up at her.

"There you are. Now then, Miss Weasley and I will be out in the hall, giving you some privacy and going over some papers. Hit the button by your bed if you need anything," the healer said before he bowed his head once and exited the room.

Ginny hesitated for a moment before she smiled back at the pair. "I should probably go and make sure that Harry and Draco aren't fighting again. I'm sure they'll be glad to know that everything's all right and you have a little boy now."

"Of course," Hermione said, nodding at her friend. "And Ginny? Thank you so much for being here. I don't know what I would have done if I only had Severus."

"Hey!"

Ginny smiled back. "Not a problem at all, Hermione," she said, before she nodded to the couple and exited the room.

Silence filled the corners of the room for a moment before Severus finally spoke, his voice quiet, as if he were in a trance. "A boy," Severus murmured, sitting lightly on the bed next to Hermione. His child. His son. His creation. Severus could already tell that the child would, unfortunately, have his nose. But the boy also had his deep, expression filled eyes, though it appeared that he would have his mother's unruly hair.

"I didn't expect a boy."

Severus looked at his wife, slightly taken aback. "How could you not? There was a fifty percent chance that it would be a boy!"

"Well I'm an only child-"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course. That explains everything."

"-And my mother has just one sister, and my grandmother before her was an only-"

"Those are only half of your genes, Hermione. And even so, the boy has my genes as well-"

"-And my father is the only boy among three girls, and my grandfather has two sisters-"

Severus held up a hand, watching as his son's eyes followed the path of his palm before they fluttered closed. "Are you unhappy with the sex of our child?"

"Not at all!" she said, her eyes widening as she lightly shook her head. "Severus, I'm just a bit surprised, that's it. But he's our perfect little boy, and he's so darling... What are we going to call him?"

Severus blinked. He _knew_ they should have prepared. "No idea. Any suggestions?"

She thought for a moment. "Adam?"

He rolled his eyes. "Too generic."

She nodded. "Danny?"

Severus looked taken aback for a moment before he began to violently shake his head. "Too girly."

"Hugo?"

He snorted. "Absolutely not! It sounds like something _Weasley _would name his child!"

Hermione scowled as her annoyance began to grow. Why did he have to shoot down all of her ideas? "Well what are you thinking, then?"

He looked at his baby boy. What was he thinking? "I don't know. It has to be something... Powerful. Strong. A name that's unique and prophesies of our son's future strength in the world-"

"Don't go putting pressure on him already, Severus. He's not even an hour old!"

"It has to be unique to him," he insisted. "Not something every other child at Hogwarts will share."

"I guess your desire for uniqueness means naming him after your father is out of the question, then."

"Merlin, no! My father was a horrible man without _any_ redeeming qualities. Why would I ever want to name my _son _after him?"

Hermione frowned. Severus rarely spoke of his father. He knew the muggle man was harsh and cruel, and sometimes violent to his own child, she just didn't know the extent. She didn't want to push him. "He can't be that bad."

"Be thankful that you never met him," he said darkly.

"Well I can think of one thing he did right."

"And what would that be?" he asked in a dry manner.

"He gave me you."

Severus smirked. "I suppose that's not so bad." He frowned. "And he _did_ really love my mother..."

A small smile found its way onto Hermione's face as their son drifted off to sleep. She unconsciously lowered her voice. "See? Not so bad."

"Still, I would never name my _child_ after him."

She nodded, contemplating a compromise. "What about as a middle name? To keep our son connected to the family."

He thought for a moment. The boy would already be burdened with his last name. Did he really want them to share a connection to his father, of all people? And yet, family had always been an important idea to Hermione. The fact that she'd never truly spent time with her family due to her magical abilities was hard on her. He sighed. "Perhaps."

She smiled up at him. "We still need a first name, though."

"Something special," he added, running a finger through her long brown hair..

She paused, thinking for a moment of all the names she had read about in research for this endeavor. She went through the lists in her mind before she finally spoke again. "Locke."

Severus pulled back a little. "As in find the key?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "As in the philosopher."

He scoffed, repeating her earlier argument. "I will _not_ preach philosophy to my son of less than a day old, Hermione."

She met his gaze, though, challenging him. "We'll change the spelling then."

"Will we drop the E?" Severus asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "How creative. No one will _ever _confuse him with a latch."

Hermione just chuckled lightly. "I was thinking we change the spelling entirely. How about L-O-Q-U-E. Loque."

He raised an eyebrow. "A Q?"

She nodded back at him. "For uniqueness."

He pursed his lips. "And a silent E?"

"Well it sounds silly without it," Hermione reasoned.

Severus looked down at his sleeping son, at the little boy that Hermione held in her arms. The small creature slumbered on as they debated his future, and he couldn't help but reach out to run his hand along the boy's forehead. "Loque," he mused.

And thus, on August 15th, Loque Tobias Snape was born.

* * *

I have to say that this was my favorite chapter to write so far!

By the way, I have a new poll up on my profile concerning this story, so you should check it out...

Please read my Harry/Ginny oneshot Epiphanies of Romance! It's amusing and pretty short; if you enjoy this story, you'll like it!

The second chapter of Hidden Lives is up! It's a Blaise/Pansy oneshot, so go check it out!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	37. Apple Sauce

_Apple Sauce_

Over Hermione's maternity leave, Loque was introduced to the rest of his family: Ginny and Harry, Draco and Astoria, Ron and Luna... Even the Weasley twins came to visit the newborn, and they brought their own children with them. Life went on as normal; Hermione turned twenty-four, and a few months later, Severus celebrated his forty-third birthday. Everything was going as planned.

Loque was a curious little child, always pulling on his mother's hair or putting his hands in his father's eyes. His black eyes mirrored those of his father, and the curly brown hair that was beginning to sprout at the top of his head was from his mother.

To Hermione's delight, Severus was an extremely attentive father. He would come home every night after dinnertime at Hogwarts and give Loque a bath before putting the boy to bed. He'd then curl up with Hermione, falling asleep with her. In the morning, he would get up, and dress Loque while Hermione got a bottle ready for him.

Things grew slightly more complicated when Hermione went back to work, but the family still managed. True, she got less sleep then was probably wise, but she was able to help people, and that was all that mattered.

Their son was almost six months old when a healer that Hermione worked with advised the couple to start feeding him real food, like a mushed bananas or apple sauce. Eager to give their son the best care that they possibly could, the pair quickly obliged.

And yet, it didn't turn out quite as planned...

"Will you hold still?" Severus growled at their child as Loque squirmed in his high-chair.

"Severus! Be gentle with him," Hermione admonished as she lightly pushed the spoon filled with apple sauce towards her son's mouth.

"I am," he argued. "But I'm trying to be efficient as well."

"I hardly think that yelling at him is efficient."

"Perhaps not, but just waving the bloody spoon before him isn't either," he snapped.

"Watch your language! There's a child present," she whispered.

He rolled his eyes. "Hermione, he's six months old. He can't understand us."

"That's no excuse," she said quickly. "Severus, he's going to learn eventually, and then where will we be? We might as well get into the habit of curbing our language now while we don't have to worry about him mimicking us."

"I'm around children all _bloody_ day," he sneered in a pointed manner. "I think I can control my language."

"Obviously not," she said, glaring back at him. She sighed. "This isn't working. Here, take the spoon. You try."

He gently took the spoon from his mouth, dipped it once more in the apple sauce, and then held it up to his son. "Come on, Loque," he murmured, his voice taking on a rather soothing tone that was completely unnatural to him. "Open up." Instead of complying, he just let out a light laugh. Severus sighed. While when Loque had laughed for the first time, he'd been immensely pleased, now it was just tiresome. "I give up."

"How Slytherin of you," Hermione goaded.

He glared up at his wife. "It's not like you can do any better."

"But I'm not refusing to try."

"Yet."

"Are you insinuating that I'm a quitter?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Not at all. I am insinuating, however, that there are some tasks that are simply too arduous for even _you_ to complete," he said diplomatically.

"Too arduous- Severus, he's our son! He needs to be fed," she said in outrage.

"And he will be. When he learns to open his mouth when he's told."

"I can't believe you!"

"I can't believe you, either," Severus said with a roll of his eyes, putting the spoon down.

"Why don't you just go back to work?"

"Because I'd rather be here with my family!"

"Then help me out, Severus," Hermione ordered. "Please, I can't do this on my own!"

"I know that!"

"Well you have a funny way of-" She was cut off suddenly, as apple sauce flew onto her and Severus. Loque had, apparently, grown bored of being ignored, and, with a shriek of laughter, had taken it upon himself to remind his parents that he was still there.

As the two lovers blinked and began to wipe apple sauce off of their faces, Severus turned to his wife. "Hermione?"

"Mm?" she said, as she tried to work the food out of her hair.

He reached over to help her, using his fingers as a makeshift comb. "Let's not have another child until this one is old enough to do these sorts of menial tasks for us."

Hermione laughed lightly, before taking her husband's hand. "Deal."

Beside them, Loque just laughed.

* * *

Hey everybody! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

By the way, I have a new poll up on my profile concerning this story, so you should check it out...

Please read my Harry/Ginny oneshot Epiphanies of Romance! It's amusing and pretty short; if you enjoy this story, you'll like it!

The third chapter of Hidden Lives is up! It's a Tom Riddle/Andromeda story, and it's incredibly... unusual haha.

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	38. No Choice

_No Choice_

"Um, Healer Snape?"

She turned, an amused smile on her lips as she faced the intern that had spoken. "Please, call me Hermione."

"Right, okay Healer- Hermione."

She still thought it was absolutely bizarre that people referred to her as a Healer. She'd only been working for a few months, and after all of that time she'd spent on maternity leave, she was surprised that people actually remembered who she was.

Loque was nearly ten months old now, and he was continuing to grow in leaps and bounds every day. He was standing on his own, and already showing signs of magical abilities. She couldn't be more pleased with her son's progress; he was perfect.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, a pleasant smile on her face.

The intern hesitated. "Your son won't stop crying again."

He was perfect... Except for moments like these. She sighed, the smile dissolving from her face. "Of course he won't," she muttered. "If you'll excuse me."

He'd been the little trouble-maker for the past month now, and Hermione was constantly being called down to the daycare center to soothe her child. It made getting work done nearly impossible, and what with school ending, there was an increase of children at St. Mungo's in need of assistance. She was swamped, and losing more sleep than ever.

"What's it about this time, Margaret?" she asked once she'd reached the daycare center. Stooping down, she picked up the little boy, cradling him in her arms.

Margaret shrugged. "I wish I knew. He just started sobbing for no reason."

The boy's tears slowed as he clung desperately to his mother, and Hermione sighed, kissing him on the forehead. "There now, Loque," she murmured. "It's okay. You're okay." She addressed Margaret again. "Did he fall?"

"I'm telling you, Healer Granger, nothing happened. He just started crying. I think he misses you." She shook her head. "He's upsetting all of the other children. If you can't teach him to control himself, we can't watch after him."

Hermione stared at the woman, a look of horror on her face. "Control himself- He's not even a year old!"

But Margaret just shook her head. "I'm sorry, Healer Granger, but we don't have a choice."

Severus came home that night at seven to find his wife sitting on the floor in their living room doing paperwork as their son slept soundly in his bassinet. "Hello," he said, stooping to kiss her on the head. "Is dinner almost ready?"

His wife glanced up, a glare on her features. "Does it _look_ as though I've been making dinner? If you're so hungry, make the bloody food yourself!"

Severus was taken aback, and he thought back to the last few nights, wondering if he'd done something to offend her. "All right," he said cautiously. "No need to get your knickers in a twist-"

She scoffed at him. "Oh, how _witty_. Go on then, share all of that keen wit that you've been practicing for hours upon end on your students. Hit me with your worst, I beg of you!"

He frowned. "What's going on, Hermione?"

She sighed, leaning her head back. "I had to leave work early today because Loque wouldn't stop crying." Severus raised an eyebrow as he glanced at his peaceful son. "This is the second time this week, and now I have pages of forms to fill out because I couldn't stay to work. And he'll be up in another hour crying again, but I have to sleep because I have to go into St. Mungo's for the morning shift at four tomorrow, and... and you're not here! And I have to deal with this all alone. I have no one to help me, Severus! This isn't working."

He knelt down, drawing her into a hug as she sobbed into his chest. "You're not happy," he muttered.

She snorted. "I am, but I'm tired. I'm doing so much... I don't know how much longer I can keep this up for, Severus. I'm going mad here. I... I think I have to stop working."

He pulled back, stunned by her admission. "What?"

"I don't want to, and it kills me to do so, but... I can't care for Loque and work at the same time!" she sobbed. "I love healing, I love working, but it's too much. I'm failing in both my attempt to be a mother and to do my job. I have to give it up."

She started bawling again, and Severus pulled her to his chest. _Maybe not,_ he thought, stroking her hair as he thought, making a mental note to meet with Minerva tomorrow.

She felt so lost when she handed in her resignation. She wasn't sure whether or not to cry or collapse in sadness, but she could do neither. Loque needed to be fed. And so she stayed home with her child, caring for his needs while neglecting her own.

Around noon, she received a call through the fireplace. "Hermione? Are you here?"

She entered the living room, holding Loque. "Minerva? Is everything all right? Severus-"

"He's fine, my dear. Why don'y you come through the fire; have a chat with me."

She frowned, confused by the random invitation. "Of course." She said, stepping closer to the fireplace as Minerva removed her head.

Moments later, she was seated in the headmistress' office, a cup of tea in her hand and her child on her lap. "So Hermione," Minerva said, setting her own cup down. "Severus tells me that you quit your job."

She bit her lip, mentally cursing her husband for gossiping about her. "Today, actually. So, if you don't mind, I'd prefer if we didn't discuss it."

"Of course, my dear. I only asked because I wanted to make sure you were available," the older woman said with a smile.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"As you know, Poppy is getting on in years. She's recently informed me that she wishes to retire within the next five years, and that I should be contemplating a replacement for her, someone to begin working with her as soon as possible."

Hermione caught on immediately. "_Me?_"

"Who else?" Minerva asked with a small smile.

Hermione stroked Loque's head as she answered, frowning slightly. "Minerva, I'm flattered, but you do know why I left my last job, right?"

She nodded. "And it's for that reason that I'm sure you'll be fine here. There are less people that will be coming through your hospital wing, so there's less pressure. Your son can stay with you while you work. If, for some reason, things get too hectic within the hospital wing, you can always call Winky, or one of the other elves to watch after him for a short amount of time." She let out a light laugh. "I daresay that in a few years, he'll be able to look after himself just fine. In fact, he'll be about six when Poppy retires, won't he? I think by then, you should be able to run the hospital wing and watch after your older child just fine."

Hermione swallowed stunned by her old teacher's request. "The commute would be horrendous-"

"So you'll move into Severus' quarters with him. They most certainly are big enough, and Merlin knows they can be expanded if you suddenly need... more room," she said suggestively, causing Hermione to blush. "Hermione, you are completely over-qualified for this job. You can do this with ease. What do you say?"

She bit her lip. "I don't know... I'd have to speak to Severus."

"He's all for it," Minerva stated, waving the thought away. "Trust me."

"How could you know-"

"Hermione, who do you think requested that I ask you to come and work for me," she said with a small smile. "Your husband was very insistent that this would be a good fit for you, and I must agree. I would be honored if you'd join my staff, and work in the infirmary."

Hermione could feel her eyes well up with tears as she clutched Loque to her chest, and overwhelming amount of happiness coursing through her. Severus had done this for her. Severus had tried to make sure she was happy, that she could live her life how she wanted to.

She didn't think it was possible to love him anymore than she did.

* * *

Hey everybody! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The third chapter of Hidden Lives is up! It's a Tom Riddle/Andromeda story, and it's incredibly... unusual haha.

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	39. I Want You to Marry Me

_"I want you to marry me!"_

Things progressed quickly after that. Given that it was already the end of June, it was decided that Hermione would begin working with Madam Pomfrey the following year. She and Severus were ecstatic about being able to spend more time together, and Hermione began to make plans for creating and decorating a bedroom for Loque.

They decided that they would keep her flat, as it provided a good place to keep excess furniture, and would serve as a great place to host any dinner parties that Hermione may plan on having with her friends. It wouldn't, after all, do to have five couples traipsing up to the castle so they could huddle in Severus' rooms. The Snape family would also be able to stay there on weekends and over the summer.

Draco and Astoria got married in the middle of July, and everyone was there. True to Malfoy form, the wedding was extravagant, though not as lavish as it would have been if Draco's family hadn't lost all of their money after the war.

Hermione had smiled to herself at the wedding, Loque on her lap and Severus by her side. Draco's wedding marked the end of an era. Ron had Luna, Fred had Katie, George had Angelina, Draco had Astoria... All of her friends were married. Well, all except for...

A week later, Severus and Hermione were roused from a deep sleep early one Sunday morning by a pounding on the door. "Dear Merlin," Hermione moaned, rubbing her eyes.

"You can get that," Severus muttered, rolling over.

"Thanks."

A loud wail made itself heard from the next room, and Severus groaned as he sat up. "On second thought, I'll get the door. You go check on Loque."

Hermione sat up with a small grin. "Of course, Severus."

She made her way into her son's bedroom, leaning down a bit to peer into his crib. "Come on, Loque," she murmured, picking him up. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

The little boy clutched at his mother, his hands going around her neck. "Boom," he cried.

She sighed, stroking his hair. "I'm sorry, honey. Did the loud knocking wake you? It's okay. You just go back to sle-"

"Hermione!" she heard Severus yell from the entrance hall. "It's your vagrant friends. You know, the ones with no regard for other people's privacy, nor any sense of decency when it comes to what time it is?"

She chuckled lightly. "Come on, love. It looks like your Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny are here."

Sure enough, Harry and Ginny stood in her living room, identical smiles on their faces. "'Arry!" Loque squealed, wriggling out of her grasp, his tears instantly gone. He waddled over to the Boy Who Lived.

Harry laughed, picking the child up. "Hello there, Loque. My have you gotten big!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Please, for the love of Merlin, tell me that you didn't come here and wake us at six in the morning on a _Sunday _so that you could marvel at my son's growth."

Ginny chuckled. "It's a little more exciting than that, Hermione."

"I'm on the edge of my seat," Severus muttered with a roll of his eyes. He addressed Hermione. "I'll make tea."

Ginny ignored him and continued to speak. "As you know, the Malfoy wedding was last weekend. And it was so beautiful, and so lovely, and Astoria looked so stunning in that dress! I've always thought her complexion was too pale for white, but she looked very nice in-"

"Oh, I do hope there's more to this story than the latest fashion choices of young Miss Malfoy," Severus interrupted.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh, shush! Of course there is."

Harry took up the story then. "So we were discussing the wedding last night, lying together in bed, and I thought 'I wish we could have that.' But then I realized that there was no reason why I _couldn't_-"

Hermione caught on, her mouth dropping open. "Oh my-"

"And then," Ginny said, hopping a little in excitement. "Out of the blue, he turns to me and says 'I want you to marry me.'"

Hermione squealed. "No!"

"Yes!"

"You're engaged!"

Harry nodded as Loque wiggled from out of his grasp, hurrying over to his father. "We are!"

"Oh Merlin!" Hermione cried, throwing her arms around the two of them. "Congratulations! This is so amazing!"

Severus sighed. Great, they'd want to stay and celebrate. They'd never leave. He felt a hand tug on his pants, and he looked down to find Loque sitting on the ground beside him, a look of surprise on his face. "Dada?"

He let out a small smile, bending down to pick up his son. "You're not alone, son. I also view them as incredibly moronic and..." he paused, looking over at the squealing group. "A little too overexcited. However, there is one way that we as men have learned to bear this sort of unfortunately overzealous celebratory manner." He called out to his wife. "Hermione." She glanced up at him, her eyebrows raised. "Let's celebrate. I'm breaking out the scotch."

* * *

Hey everybody! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The fourth and fifth chapters of Hidden Lives are up! The fourth one is a cute memory of Daphne's about Astoria, and the fifth one is about Bill/Fleur. Check them out and review please!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	40. Jewelry

_Jewelry_

Loque soon turned one. A small gathering was held at the Burrow in his honor, with Harry and Ginny, Draco and Astoria, and the entire Weasley family attending. The ages of the children present varied; Teddy Lupin was seven, David Weasley was four, and Logan Weasley was two. Yet the children played together, as Loque hurried after them, trying to keep up while the adults sat outside together, having tea.

"I still can't believe how much he's grown," Ginny said with a shake of her head. "How the time does pass so quickly!"

"It's even doubly so when you have children of your own," Katie said with a laugh as she exchanged glances with Fred. "Why, it seems like only yesterday that Logan learned to walk, and now look at him. Running with his cousins, laughing, chasing after a gnome- Logan! Sweetie, leave the gnome alone!" she called out, hurrying over to her son.

Hermione laughed. "Who would have ever guessed that we'd all have boys together? Well," she amended, glancing at her other friends. "Some of us do, anyway."

Draco's lip curled. "Is that remark directed at me and Weasley?" Ron rolled his eyes.

"Don't be daft, Draco," Severus said, taking a sip of his tea. "Of course it was."

George leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. "Come now, baby brother. Tell us. When _are_ you planning on starting a family?"

"Not your business."

"Oh," Ginny laughed, crossing her legs. "Is that so? Let's just call Mum outside and see what she thinks-"

"At least I'm actually married," he shot back, though a smile was on his face.

"And at least _I_ haven't spent hours running around Diagon Alley at four in the morning looking for my love's favorite type of flowers because I forgot our anniversary," Harry chuckled.

"Oh, Ron," Angelina moaned. "That's horrible!"

"What?" He defended himself. "I made it up to her! Besides, it's not like George has never done it!"

"Actually," George said, wrapping his arms around Angelina. "I've always remembered."

"How could I forget?" Fred added.

"Oh, you must be kidding." He turned to the only married couple left. "Well?" he asked Severus and Hermione. Silence. "No protests? Then you did forget your anniversary!"

"Only once," Severus muttered.

"Once was enough," Hermione pointed out.

"What happened?" Ginny asked, curious.

Hermione sighed. "Well..."

The day was warm, but that was to be expected, given that it was late August. The sun shone brightly down on Hermione's flat, and as she heated the tea, the buzzer rang, signaling to her that the cinnamon rolls she was making for Severus were ready.

She still couldn't believe that they'd been married for an entire year. To think that she'd been lucky enough to find someone she loved at such a young age, someone that she knew she could last with, was incredible. Her life was perfect. Her husband was perfect. Everything was perfect.

"Something smells lovely," he said, emerging from their bedroom.

"That would be breakfast," she said, handing him a cup of tea. "It's just about ready." She reached for the stack of paper plates she'd bought just for the occasion.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Have we run out of dishes?"

Hermione laughed. "Cute," she said, giving him a kiss on the check as she handed him a plate with the cinnamon roll on it. "You'll get your real present later," she said with a small wink.

But to her surprise, he just looked at her with a blank face. "Present?"

She frowned, picking up her tea cup. "Yes. Present." Severus gave no reaction. "For today." Still, nothing. "You know." No reaction. She sighed. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"Forgot what?"

Her jaw clenched as she set down her cup with force. "Tell me, Severus," she said, her voice stiff. "What day, exactly, did we get married on?"

Comprehension dawned on him at that moment, and after a slight pause he left the room, grabbing his cloak as he headed to the front door. "I'll be back."

"She had to _tell you_?" Ron asked, laughing as he spoke. "Merlin, at least I remembered a few hours before the sun rose!"

"Wait," Hermione said with a grin as Severus sighed beside her. "It gets better."

He returned in the afternoon, a small, rectangular box in his hand. "Hermione!" he called out. "I'm home! And I've got something for you!"

"Oh, do you now," she said without glancing up from the _Daily Prophet_. "So nice of you to remember."

He scowled. "Just open it, will you."

She put the paper down, looking at the box in his hand. "That's a jewelry box"

"Very good. With observational skills like those, it's no wonder that you were the top of your class."

She ignored him, though, turning back to her paper. "The first anniversary gift is paper."

Severus was taken aback. "Is that what the paper plates were for this morning?"

She scoffed. "Honestly, do you have any sense of tradition? Or a memory, at least?"

He rolled his eyes. "You should have mentioned that our anniversary was approaching, Hermione-"

"You can't even be bothered to remember the day we got married! What does that say about us?"

"It says that I'm a busy man." She snorted, shaking her head. "Hermione," he said, kneeling down so that he was at eye level with her. "Look at me," he said, lightly grabbing her chin. "You know I love you. It just... slipped my mind. But I'm making up for it now. Please. Take the necklace."

Her lips twitched. "You just ruined the surprise," she accused, gently taking the box from him. "And unless it's a paper necklace, then it doesn't follow tradition-"

"Bugger tradition," he said, leaning in to give her a kiss.

"How on earth did she forgive you?" Ron asked in awe.

"Lots and lots of make-up sex, Mr. Weasley," Severus drawled, causing Ron's ears to turn pink.

"I still can't believe that you forgot," Draco muttered with a shake of his head. "That's pathetic."

"If you ever do that, Draco," Astoria told her husband with a small frown. "You will be sleeping on the couch for a month."

"Of course, dear," he replied with the roll of his eyes.

"Isn't your anniversary in a couple of weeks?" Harry asked amused by the arguing that the anecdote seemed to have caused.

"Yes," Hermione said slowly, turning to Severus. "Did you hear that, dear? Our anniversary is in _two weeks_. Think you can remember?"

He patted her hand. "Of course, Hermione. Expect a lovely bracelet to match the necklace."

She frowned. "There you go, giving away the surprise again. And the gift for the second year of marriage is supposed to be cotton or straw, not a bracelet."

He just grabbed her lightly by the chin, pulling her closer to him. "Not for us, Hermione," he said, before he captured her lips with his own. "To me, you're always worth at least jewelry."

* * *

Hey everybody! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

I'm really sorry for not updating in awhile. I just moved into college yesterday! So the past two weeks have been filled with furniture shopping, packing, and then unpacking boxes. Thank you all for much for being patient with me!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	41. Dreaming

_Dreaming_

The last between any of Hermione's school friends took place soon enough. Harry and Ginny had a small wedding with few people there, but it was lovely nonetheless. She had cried at the end of the era. Everyone was paired up; the dating age was over and the family age had begun.

The school year soon started anew, and Hermione turned twenty-five. They officially moved into Severus' chambers during the school year, and Loque couldn't have been more thrilled. The child was constantly entertained by house elves as Hermione worked with Madam Pomfrey.

The hospital wing saw less visitors than St. Mungo's had, and for that Hermione was grateful; it allowed for her to spend more time with her son. He was growing up so fast, and Hermione didn't want to miss a moment of it.

The family had a fairly complicated daily routine worked out. Every day, Severus would have breakfast with Loque and Hermione in his chambers. He would then go to teach, leaving Hermione free to head to the infirmary with Loque. They ate lunch separately, but by five o'clock, when Madam Pomfrey no longer needed her assistance, Hermione would take her child back to her flat, spending alone time with him as she made dinner for the entire family. After dinner, Severus would floo them back to his chambers for the night.

It was a complex schedule, but the couple was happy, nonetheless.

It was during the execution of said complex schedule, in fact, that a life-changing decision was made. "Bill and Fleur are coming for dinner tonight," Hermione told Severus one morning over breakfast.

"Are they?" he said, looking up from the prophet. "They aren't bringing their children with them, I hope?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's not as though _you_ cook for them."

"Thank Merlin for that." He sighed, taking a sip of his tea. "What are we having?"

"Steak," she answered automatically.

He scowled. "And I suppose we'll undercook it again because Weasley likes the taste of the blood, hmm?"

"It's not his fault," Hermione soothed. "Greyback bit him-"

"While he wasn't transformed. That's hardly an excuse."

"Yes, but think about all of the people who are bitten by werewolves while they _are _transformed," she protested. "You wouldn't complain if they liked their meat a little bloody."

"Because they have an actual affliction," he noted.

"More like a curse," Hermione muttered.

"I agree with you there," he nodded, glancing down at his son as he climbed over the couch.

"You'd think somebody would have found a cure by now," Hermione murmured with a shake of her head.

"Well a cure would be very difficult to come by, Hermione," Severus said rationally. "It would take a lot of research, many years, willing test subjects... And even then it would have to be approved of by the Ministry."

An odd look had entered Hermione's eyes, though, and she spoke slowly. "You're brilliant."

He blinked. "Should I be thanking you?"

But she ignored him. "I was top of my class."

He snorted. "Very good. Just figured that out, did you?"

"Together... Together we must be at a genius level. We have money, a potions lab... We have access to ingredients and some time- Not a lot, but enough to accomplish _something_ at least."

He caught on. "You want to try and cure lycanthropy."

She nodded. "Together, I think we can do it."

He scoffed. "I didn't realize it was optimist hour."

"Come now, Severus," she said, her eyes beginning to glisten with excitement. "Dream with me for a moment. You're one of the top potions masters in all of England, nay, all of Europe. I'm a certified Healer with a specialty in medical potions, and I have ties with both Healers at St. Mungo's to get it approved if it works, and werewolf friends of the late Remus Lupin who could be test subjects. We can do this."

"Perhaps," he mused, a slow smile building on his face. "Tonight then, after Weasley and his veela wife leave, you and I should discuss just what we plan on doing to cure lycanthropy. I'm interested to hear your theories on the use of the Wolfsbane potion in an Indonesian climate..."

* * *

Hey everybody! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

And as always, please review this chapter! I'd really like to know what you think! Thank you!

Take care!

-Selene


	42. Devastation

_Devastation_

Hermione had never been to a dog's funeral before, but she supposed there was a first time for everything.

She hadn't seen Marauder's death coming at all; one day, she was feeding Loque lunch, laughing as he threw his spoon to the ground, and the next she was consoling Harry as he cried over the loss of his dog, devastated.

He had wiped the tears from his eyes as she rubbed his back, and said, "You'll come, won't you? To the funeral, I mean?"

Who was she to deny him?

Severus, on the other hand, wasn't sure how he'd gotten roped into attending the damn mutt's final farewell; he could care less about the creature. As far as he was concerned, Marauder's death was a good thing. It meant that he would no longer have a dog slobbering at his feet when he attended dinner parties. But Hermione was adamant. Their attendance meant a lot to Harry, and thus it meant a lot to her. And so they went, comforting the boy as he wept over the loss of his dog.

"Harry," Hermione murmured after the service had ended. Everyone had left, including Ginny. She and Harry had just become parents to one James Sirius Potter, and she was taking the young boy to her mother's house for the afternoon so Harry could grieve properly. Hermione was standing in the entrance to Grimmauld Place with Ron, Harry, and Severus. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Harry, it's okay. Everything's okay."

"Okay?" he sobbed. "Marauder is d-dead! How can that be okay?"

"He was a good dog, Harry," Ron said, peering into his friend's face. "I'm sure he's in a good place-"

"He's g-gone," Harry said, looking up with his red-rimmed eyes. "The only connection I have left to my family, to the Marauders... It's gone!"

Hermione and Ron exchanged glances as the truth of the situation dawned on them. So _that_ was why Harry was so upset. _That_ was why he was so forceful about giving the dog a proper burial service. Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius... None of them had received the treatment they'd deserved. He wanted to do them justice by doing his dog justice...

"Harry," Hermione said softly. "You're not alone. You have us. We're your family."

Ron nodded. "That's right, mate. Me, Hermione, the twins, Luna, my sister-"

"Katie and Angelina. Minerva. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," she continued.

"Bill, Fleur, Victorie, Dominique, Louis, and the vast number of children I'm sure the two of them will have," Ron said with a shudder. "George's boy David. Fred's son Logan and his new baby Molly," he pointed out.

"Draco and Astoria," Hermione continued. "Though I'm still not sure how that happened. Loque. Teddy Lupin. Your own son. James may be just a baby, but he's here for you."

"Even Snape has your back," Ron blurted out, glancing at his potion's master. "Er... Right?"

He sent a cool smile to his old student, but nevertheless, he gave a stiff nod. "You may count me among the vast number of companions you have, Mr. Potter. But only if you must."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but a small smile was on her face. "You have family, Harry. It may not be an orthodox family. But it's a family, all the same. You can count on us."

The Boy Who Lived sniffed, blinking back his tears before he threw his arms around his two best friends. Pausing, he chuckled lightly before he reached out and pulled a rather surprised and uncomfortable Severus into the hug as well.

* * *

Hey everybody! I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but I'm in the midst of my first few weeks of college, and already the work is being piled on! The next one will probably be short too, but the uh... revelation that it has is a wee bit more interesting... Any guesses as to what it might be?

If you have any free time, please check out my new Bill/Fleur oneshot The War of the Cakes! 'Tis amusing, I must say.

Take care!

-Selene


	43. Barefoot

_Barefoot_

The days were progressing, and as the months continued, so did the lives of the Snape family. Hermione was adapting well to her job at Hogwarts, and Severus couldn't have been more pleased. As Loque's second birthday approached, so did Hermione's twenty-sixth. The family celebrated at Grimmauld Place, allowing for all of the children to play together: George and Angelina's boy David, Fred and Katie's children Logan and Molly, Harry and Ginny's son James, Teddy Lupin, and of course, Loque.

It wasn't long after the birth of James that Ginny became pregnant again, and a second child was expected. The redheaded witch was a little surprised by the development, but all Hermione could do was roll her eyes. "Two words," she had said with an amused smile. "Contraceptive potion."

As Christmas rolled around, the Snape family erected and decorated a large pine tree that they placed in Severus' rooms. The imposing man had scowled at the notion, huffing in the background as his wife assisted Loque in decorating it. "What a ludicrous idea," he'd grumbled. "Putting a tree in the living room. It's completely impractical, and I want no part in it. Really, where is one supposed to sit?"

Nevertheless, when Loque begged for him to put the star atop the tree, he had complied.

It was Christmas Eve when Hermione stepped around the tree, attempting to hide Loque's miniature broom under his new robes when she placed her foot down, stepping on a sharp object. "Ahh!" she cried out, falling back into the wall. "Bloody hell," she muttered, looking down to see her foot bleeding.

"Hermione?" Severus asked, appearing from their bedroom with his wand drawn. "What's wrong? I heard you yell."

"It's nothing, Severus," she said, hobbling over to the couch. "I stepped on something. Go back to bed."

But he was already putting his wand away and wrapping his arm around her waist, assisting her over to the couch. "What did you step on?"

She sighed. "Probably a broken ornament. Loque was playing by the tree earlier. He must have knocked one down."

His lip curled as he knelt at her feet, peering at Hermione's cut. "I'll have to talk with him."

"Severus," she groaned, leaning back. "He's just a little boy. Leave him alone."

"He could have hurt you."

She let out a low laugh. "How? Severus, I stepped on some broken porcelain. It's not like I blew up a cauldron!"

But her husband was adamant. He spoke as he pulled out his wand, waving it at her foot to heal it. "What if you had fallen against the tree and knocked it down? Or fallen on any of the presents at a weird angle? You could have been hurt."

Her eyes narrowed. "That wouldn't hurt me, Severus. Bruise me, yes, but hurt? Not really..."

He hesitated. "Unless you landed on your stomach."

Oh. That.

"You're worried about the baby," she whispered, putting her hand to his face. She had only recently found out about this pregnancy, and she was glad that he was taking an interest.

"Of course I am," he said, sitting next to her on the couch. "You're only three months pregnant, and you work at a school with a bunch of moronic imbeciles who let their hormones drive them. They could accidentally hurt you."

She kissed the top of his head. "Severus, I'll be fine. Really. And so will the baby." She let out a laugh. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised by your concern. You seemed a bit terrified at the thought of having a second child."

"Of course I was," he muttered. "_Two_ infant boys? It will certainly be a lot to handle."

"What makes you so sure it will be a boy?"

He gave her a small smirk. "I'm a Snape, Hermione. We have male children."

"Yes," she conceded. "But I was a Granger. We have female children."

"I think it's already been proven that my genes are more powerful then yours, my dear."

"Is that so?" she said with a laugh, leaning in to give him a kiss.

He pulled back slightly. "Can you do me a favor, though?"

"Of course."

He gestured towards her foot. "Stop walking around barefoot, will you? I don't need you injuring yourself again."

* * *

I'm so sorry for not updating in awhile! I've actually been in the hospital; I was really sick. But I'm a lot better now, and so the updates shall continue! Thank you so much for the reviews, they make me smile!

Take care!

-Selene


	44. Cold

_Cold_

Mid-July found Hermione on a beach in Ireland with Draco and Astoria by her side. The sun was high in the sky, the rays warming the inhabitants of the private beach, and Hermione couldn't help but smile up at the world around her.

Loque was through the sand, kicking it in the air as he squealed with glee. Hermione laughed. He was so happy here, so loving of nature... She really needed to take him out more often. He was young, he should be exploring the world, not living shoved into a stuffy castle. Maybe they should move...

"Hermione," Astoria called out as she and Draco sauntered forward, pulling her from her thoughts. "I think we're going to head inside now."

"Yes," Draco nodded as the pair reached her. "The sun's getting a little too warm for Astoria in her condition." His wife scowled, crossing her arms over her swollen belly. Astoria was near the middle of her third trimester, and she was overly cautious about exposing the baby to too much heat.

"Of course," Hermione said with a small smile. "Why don't you head back to the cottage? I'm sure Severus is lonely."

"I doubt that," Draco muttered.

"I don't see why he wouldn't come outside with you," Astoria said, reaching up to tie her hair back into a neat bun.

But Hermione just smirked. "Severus has never really been the beach type."

She nodded. "I guess I can see that, what with his pale features. But still, this is a holiday, and-"

"Mummy!"

Hermione's head whipped to the side, coming in contact with Loque's black eyes. "What is it, sweetie?" she asked, a note of concern in her voice.

He ran over to them, stumbling in the sand before he collapsed against his mother's legs. "The water's cold."

Hermione chuckled with relief. "Is that all?"

"Really cold."

She bent down, picking him up. "Well, then. Why don't we just get you inside, hmm? You want to go and see daddy?"

"Yes!"

"Then let's go."

* * *

Severus Snape was annoyed. In the first place, he couldn't believe that he allowed himself to be dragged off to the _beach_ of all places during his summer break. The fact that Draco and Astoria had invited them to stay at the cottage they had rented for a week was nice, however he would have loved to decline. If only Hermione hadn't been so bloody excited...

The place was small, but he didn't mind that. What he cared about was that while his holiday time was dwindling away, his family was spending their time frolicking in the sun _without him_.

It was incredibly inconvenient.

A cry from the other room brought his attention back to reality as, with a sigh, he stood up, and made his way to the bedroom his children shared. Reaching down into the cradle in which his newborn daughter slept, he picked her up into his arms.

She was only a few months old, but little Aria Jean was already a loud screamer. She had her mother's chocolate brown eyes and her father's straight black hair, and she knew even at this infant age that the louder she cried, the more likely she was to receive what she wanted.

He predicted that she'd be sorted into Slytherin.

The door to the cottage slammed shut, and he jumped a bit, patting Aria on the back as her cries grew louder. "Hermione?" he called out. "Is that you?"

In an instant, the witch was by his side, grabbing onto her baby and holding her. "It figures that I'd go away for an hour and you'd find some way to make her cry."

Severus rolled his eyes. "You act as though I set out maliciously to upset her."

"Perhaps you did," she teased, patting the girl on the back.

"Why are you back so early, anyway?" he asked, leaning against Aria's crib. "I thought Loque wanted to stay out all afternoon. I figured you'd have to drag him back under the _Imperius_ curse."

She laughed. "The water was too cold and it made him shiver. He actually _wanted_ to return home."

"Is that so? Hm," he mused. "That's certainly unusual."

"Did you enjoy your time to yourself?" she asked him, bouncing their daughter on her hip.

"Immensely," he said. "At least until she started to cry."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't be nearly as cranky if we'd had a boy."

Despite his mockery of Hermione's surprised attitude at their first child being a boy, Severus had been amazed and terrified to learn that their second baby was a girl. He'd never truly entertained the idea of having a girl before; he didn't really know how to deal with females.

His lips twitched. "True." He stooped down to kiss his sobbing daughter on the head. "But she's perfect. And that's all I can ask for."

* * *

Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it, and I hope you like Aria!

Thank you to all of my reviewers from the last chapter: xXKissingSinXx, Larisa, brilliantblonde, Meeko, and Sithtar. I really appreciate it!

Take care!

-Selene


	45. Rain

_Rain_

"Mummy? Mummy?"

"Yes Loque, what is it?" Hermione asked, blinking quickly as she forced her attention away from the papers in front of her. She was sitting in her kitchen, back at her flat with Loque playing on the floor beside her. The school year had recently started up again, and already students were getting magical injuries by the dozens. While none of them were too permanent, that did mean that there was a lot of tedious paperwork to fill out...

...Which was becoming increasingly difficult, thanks to Loque's incessant pestering.

"Mummy, why is the sky wet?"

Hermione sighed, turning to her son. He was a precocious little four year old child, taking after her and asking questions about anything and everything; he wouldn't stop until the answer satisfied him.

Dammit.

"That's rain, Loque," Hermione said, rubbing his head. _Maybe,_ she thought, _maybe just one answer will suffice for today. Maybe I'll get off easy... _"You know that. When water falls out of the sky, it's called rain."

"But why?"

_Or maybe not._

"Because that's what big important people named it many years a-"

"No! Why does it fall from the sky?" Loque asked, his face screwed up in concentration. "Why, Mummy?"

"Because, sweetheart," Hermione said, smoothing out his hair. She needed to give it a good trim. _I'll just add that to the to-do list_, she grumbled internally. "It has to. The water has to be returned to Earth somehow."

"Why?"

She sighed. "Well, because we all need fresh water in order to drink and to survive-"

"No!" Loque interrupted once more, his hands balling up into little fists. "Why do we have to play inside?"

Hermione paused, surprised by the unexpected turn that the conversation had made. "What do you mean by that, Loque?"

"You said that we had to play inside!" he explained. "You said that because of the wain! But why? Why does the wain make us play inside?"

She couldn't help it; she let out a small laugh. "It's _rain, _sweetie. Not _wain._ And because if you don't play inside, Loque, you'll get all wet! Your clothes will be soaking wet, _you_ will be soaking wet-"

"So?"

"So you don't want to get all wet, sweetheart."

"Why?"

She leaned down, looking him in the eyes. "Because you'll be all wet _and_ dirty. And then you'll have to take a bath. And you don't want that."

"But I want to play outside!" he protested.

"Loque-"

"Please? Please, Mummy?" He grabbed at his mother's hand, pulling on it. "Please? I promise I'll be good!"

She raised an eyebrow. "And you'll take a bath afterwards? Without any protests, mind you. I don't want any griping from you!"

He made a face, confused. "Gwiping?"

"Complaining," she amended. "No complaints. Do we have a deal?" He nodded, jumping once before he started backing away towards the rear door. "All right then. But stay in the backyard where I can see you!"

"No, Mummy," Loque said, reaching forward to grab her hand. "No! You have to come too!"

"Loque-"

"Come on! Please? Please, Mummy?"

She sighed once more, aware that she was so close to giving in to a ridiculous child's request. "I don't want to get wet, sweetheart. And Aria-"

"She's asleep," Loque pointed out. "And you can see Awia from outside! Please? Just for this many minutes?" he asked, holding up one of his hands with five little fingers spread out as wide as they could go. "Please?"

She shook her head, taking his hand. "Five minutes," she said. "And that's all. Do you hear me? Five minutes."

"Come on!" he said, pulling her towards the door. "Come on! This way! Go!"

She laughed, bending down to swing him up into her arms. "All right, all right, I'm going!" She opened the door and stepped outside, allowing the rain to pour down on her. "Are you happy?" she asked, raising her voice a little over the din of the rainwater. "Is this good, Loque?"

He nodded, squirming down from her grasp as he giggled, shaking his fists. "Wain!"

Hermione laughed. "_Rain_," she emphasized.

He giggled as well, before trying again. "_Wain_!"

"_Rain!"_

_"WAIN!"_

_"RAIN!"_

"Run in the WAIN!"

She laughed, grabbing him by the hand and twirling him. She felt free and safe, and completely happy here with her son. All of the stress of the tedious paperwork she had to do didn't matter. She was light, and free, and she was going to enjoy her life. "Dance in the RAIN!"

"Play in the WAIN!"

"Feel the RAIN!"

"What in the name of Merlin is going on?"

She turned, Loque still in her arms, to see Severus standing at the door with a bewildered look on his face and an asleep year-old Aria in his arms. Loque shrieked with laughter as he again squirmed out of her arms, running towards his father. "Have you both gone mad?" Severus asked, eyeing the drenched members of his family.

"Oh, do shut up," Hermione said with a grin before she pulled him in for a kiss.

* * *

Here's the next chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this sweet little vignette, and I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Thank you to all of my reviewers from the last chapter: middlekertz, Larisa, and Vanessa. I really appreciate it!

Take care!

-Selene


	46. Moonlight

_Moonlight_

"I've missed this, you know."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, glancing over at her husband in surprise. "Missed what?"

"This," Severus repeated, gesturing around them. The two of them were sitting together on the patio of a muggle restaurant in the heart of London, having dinner together, just the two of them. "Us here, alone. Dinner together at a restaurant that doesn't have ghastly pink rabbits on the wall. Not having to fight with Loque about whether he should eat his peas. Not having applesauce in my hair-"

"Loque was the one who threw applesauce at you," Hermione pointed out. "Aria throws milk, remember?"

"And then it smells wretched for days," Severus said drily with a roll of his eyes.

"Only when you don't duck."

"And if we're not being bombarded with food products or questions from our children, we're busy entertaining your detestable friends-"

"Or Draco," Hermione shot back with a grin. "He was _hardly _my friend before you brought him into our lives, you know."

"It's something I regret every day," Severus said with a small smile. He reached out, grabbing his wife's hand. "We should pawn the kids off onto Molly and Arthur more often."

"Severus!"

"You can't tell me that you aren't enjoying yourself, Hermione."

"Be that as it may, I will not just _pawn_ my children over to Molly and Arthur," Hermione mocked with a roll of her eyes. "It's completely unfair to them."

"Oh, Loque and Aria can handle it-"

"I meant to the Weasleys," Hermione interrupted with a laugh. "They have their own lives too, you know."

"But look around you, Hermione," Severus said, his voice growing deeper, huskier. "Look at the stars. Feel the warm breeze on your skin. Listen to the silence. Bask in the glorious moonlight that makes your eyes shine with beauty. And then look into my own eyes, see all of my love and passion for you, and tell me that you don't wish we could do this more often?"

Hermione bit her lip, meeting her lover's gaze, before she smiled softly and said, "I guess we can ask the Weasleys to babysit one more time."

* * *

I know this one is really short, but I'm in the middle of midterms right now! I promise, the next one will be about 3 times as long! I hope you all have an awesome Halloween! What are you guys going to be?

Thank you to all of my reviewers from the last chapter: TheTragedyIs13, Larisa, brilliantblonde, and Kayleigh-FanfictionAddict-21. I really appreciate it!

Take care!

-Selene


	47. It's a little small, isn't it?

_"It's a little small, isn't it?"_

The school year soon began to draw to a close, and it was with a great reluctance that Hermione and Severus made an uneasy decision: they needed to sell Hermione's flat. She didn't want to; she loved the apartment and all of the fond memories that came with it, but she had no choice. With two young children, a two bedroomed flat had become infeasible. Loque was constantly waking Aria from her naps by accident, and Aria would cry spontaneously in the middle of the night, thus returning the favor. They really needed a place with more room.

Sadly, they soon realized that they couldn't stay in Severus' corridors either. Loque was growing up, and he wanted desperately to explore the castle... and bother the other students. Keeping Loque occupied at night was becoming quite a hassle, and Hermione could only imagine how much trouble it would be when Aria was older.

And so they went out in search for another flat, one with more space. They left the children with Harry and Ginny one day, and searched high and low, for hours upon hours, until Hermione found a flat in muggle London that she believed may work.

"I'm not opposed to it, Severus," she said, giving a slow nod. "The curtains need to be redone, of course, but that's what magic is for... Thank Merlin we _have_ magic. I think the curtain rods are screwed into the wall pretty tightly," she murmured.

"I hate it," Severus snapped, a scowl falling onto his features.

She raised an eyebrow, curious as to his logic. "And why, pray tell, is that?"

"It's just... it's all wrong," he finished quietly, his silky voice going dangerously soft.

She blinked. "What an informative explanation."

"Pick another flat, Hermione."

"But _why_? Severus, if you don't like the color of the walls, we can always repaint them-"

"The color of the walls," he said, his voice growing in volume as he spoke over her, "is not the issue. I just do not believe that this is the right place for us."

"Why not? Hm? Give me one good reason as to why we shouldn't take this flat, Severus."

He sighed, giving her a weary look as he spoke slowly. "It's a little small, isn't it?"

She opened her mouth in surprise, startled by his pronouncement. _That _was his reason? "I'm sorry?" she managed to get out a moment later.

"The flat," he said in a monotone. "It's too small."

"No, it's not," she protested slowly. "It has three bedrooms and a rather spacious living room. I think that will suffice, Severus, unless you count on Draco and Astoria having a fight again, in which case a spare bedroom may be useful. I'm sick of finding him on my bloody _couch_-"

"No," he said sharply, a faint blush rising in his cheeks. "It's a little small. For _us_."

She shrugged, slowly shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Severus, but I'm just not following."

He sighed, glaring at her with a hatred that she hadn't seen since her Hogwarts days. "It's too small for us because it only has three bedrooms," Severus said, taking on his teaching voice. "One for us, one for Loque, and one for Aria. So unless you want to go through this whole bloody mess again sometime in the future, then we'd better pick a bigger flat."

But she still didn't get it. "Why would we go through this again?"

"Think, Hermione. What could we possibly acquire that would need its own bedroom?"

"A house-elf?"

"_Hermione_!"

"What? Do you mean a _child_?" she asked, surprise making its way through her core.

He stiffed in response, unsure of what to say. "Ah," he said slowly, giving her a small nod. "Well, then. If that's the way you feel-"

"Wait, hold on Severus! I wasn't aware that you _wanted_ any more children," she said, laying a hand on his arm.

"Not _children_, per say," he said slowly, not meeting her eyes. "But I know that you've always envied the Weasley clan; being an only child, you've longed for siblings to play with."

She gave him a small smile. "That's true."

"I believe one more child will, indeed, make for a sufficient brood," he finished, finally raising his eyes to meet her own.

She couldn't resist the grin that fought its way onto her face. "You want to have three children."

"Perhaps."

"I can't... I can't believe you want that. Severus-"

"If you do not wish the same, we don't have to-"

"Oh, don't be daft, Severus," she said with a laugh. "I want to have another child with you. I _love_ the idea of having another child with you."

He gave a curt nod, a small smile forming at the corner of his lips. "This pleases me."

She rolled her eyes. "Always so proper," she muttered, before leaning in and giving him a smooth kiss on his lips. "I love you, Severus."

He ran his hand through her hair, kissing her again on the lips in response. He still couldn't say those three words nearly as often as she could, but she found that she didn't care; knowing that he loved he was enough.

"I suppose we ought to look for a bigger flat, then."

"Perhaps. Although, now that you mention it, we should probably have another discussion before we leave," he said carefully, watching her reaction. "Hermione, let's talk about house-elves..."

* * *

I just finished the next chapter, but I'm going to wait a couple of days before I post it! Though I do really love the banter in that chapter... I hope you'll tune in for it! It's called "Don't you have anything to make this go faster?" Feel free to speculate amongst yourselves...

Thank you to all of my reviewers from the last chapter: Larisa and hiphophottie. I really appreciate it!

Take care!

-Selene


	48. Don't You Have Anything to Make this

_"Don't you have something to make this go a little faster?"_

As Hermione's 28th year dawned, the family settled in nicely to their new home. It was a four bedroom place and incredibly expensive, but Severus found that it was worth it; to be able to spend time with his children and to raise them in an actual home was an amazing feeling.

Of course, even though Severus and Hermione were no longer _living_ at Hogwarts, that didn't mean that Severus had given up his quarters. He was still in possession of them, just in case anything happened or he needed the extra space.

The two of them had decided to put off trying for a third child for at least another year; they already had their hands full with five year old Loque and two year old Aria. They didn't need to add a _third_ baby into the mix yet.

After a great deal of hassling and prodding, however, Severus _had_ managed to convince Hermione of something that everyone had thought would be impossible: he convinced her to get a house-elf.

It hadn't been easy; the fights about it had lasted for months, but in the end, Severus had been victorious. Of course, when Petals actually joined the family, Hermione was adamant that the house-elf be given certain rights. She had plenty of space in the attic of the house, and earned wages, whether she wanted them or not. Hermione's biggest goal was to create a nice, stable, and welcoming environment for her house-elf to reside in exchange for Petals' services.

The arrangement came to work out rather well, too. Having Petals allowed Hermione to be able to devote herself entirely to her job working in the hospital wing; Madam Pomfrey had finally retired, and Hermione officially ran the medical office by herself. Petals would therefore watch Aria and Loque while she spent her afternoons tending to the children at Hogwarts.

They kept her fairly busy, but she enjoyed the job nonetheless. She was able to help the kids, while at the same time reprimand them for all of the stupid things they had done that led to their injuries. To her, it was the perfect job.

Having Petals also gave Hermione some extra time at home, something for which Severus was extremely grateful. Finally, they could sneak away to have sex every now and then. Finally, they could discuss something _other_ than Babbity Rabbity or Cinderella.

Finally, they could work on their cure for lycanthropy.

Well... they could _try_, anyway. Spending all of her free time with Severus working on the "cure," after all, while good in theory, was a _lot_ harder in practice. After nearly three years of research on the subject, the duo had come up with all of _zero_ possible responses, and Hermione was starting to grow weary.

"Don't you have something to make this go a little faster?" she asked Severus late one night as the two sat side by side, sharing notes about the properties of wolfsbane.

"Oh, of course," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I've known the cure for _years _now. I just thought you'd want to try and work it out yourself, but if this is boring you, then I'll just reveal it to the world-"

"No need to be so callous," Hermione snapped.

"No need to be so _stupid_," Severus responded. "_Obviously _there's no way to make this go faster. If there were, we wouldn't still be pondering over the various types of potions that could remedy the situation."

Hermione frowned as a new thought began to dawn in her mind, taking hold. What if... What if... "What if we shouldn't be trying to develop a potion?"

Severus snorted. "What would you have us do, then? _Will_ the victims back to health?"

"What about a spell?"

"You think a _spell_ will cure lycanthropy?" Severus asked, his eyes widening in surprise. "Hermione, if it were that simple, again, we wouldn't _be here right now_."

"But we would," she said, leaning forward in her seat. "Think about it. All of the researchers assigned to cure lycanthropy... they're all potions experts. Picardi, Chang, Agrippa... They wouldn't think to try a spell! They wouldn't use that branch of magic; their first instinct will always be to use potions."

Severus frowned, allowing the thought to take hold in his mind. "That may be true," he said slowly. "But lycanthropy is a disease, a mutation in the genes. So unless you can find a spell that mutates the genes back-"

"How do we know that's not what caused it in the first place?" Hermione whispered, her eyes brightening with excitement. "Severus, lycanthropy was first observed during the middle ages... Severus, that's when Dark Magic first started to develop. What if it wasn't initially a disease? What if-"

"It was a spell," he said quietly, finishing her thought. "A dark spell that mutated the genes-"

"And then spread like a disease," Hermione completed. "I don't know about you, but I can understand why something like that wouldn't be recorded. I mean, if any dark wizards knew that spell-"

"They could infect the world," Severus said. "Voldemort could have killed all of the muggles with rabid, were-wizards..."

"Of course," Hermione admitted. "This is still all hypothetical. For all we knew, it may _be_ a disease, pure and simple. But just in case, if it's not-"

"Then we should look at it under the lens of it being a spell," Severus finished. He picked up his quill and put the tip of it to his lips, his eyes shinning brightly as he stared at his wife. "Well then," he said at last. "I suppose that means some more research is in order."

* * *

The next chapter, which will hopefully be up this weekend, is called Nightmares, so I hope that you enjoy it! Feel free to speculate about what the title means...

Argh! NaNoWriMo! I'm revising an old original work this year, and it's just KILLING me! Not to mention that it makes updating significantly harder... Are any of you doing NaNo? Let me know; we can be writing buddies and lament about the horror of this together!

I also wanted to point out that it's been just over a year since I started this story! I'm really happy to have been able to keep it up, and I'm glad you're all still reading it! So thank you for a wonderful year!

Thank you to all of my reviewers from the last chapter: Larisa, brilliantblonde and middlekertz. I really appreciate it!

Take care!

-Selene


	49. Nightmare

_Nightmares_

"Mummy! Mummy! MUMMY!"

Hermione jerked awake, sitting bolt upright at the sounds of her child's screams. "Shit," she muttered, throwing the covers off of herself as she hurried out of bed, her heart pounding in her chest. What was going on? Why was Loque screaming?

"'Mione," Severus muttered in his sleep, reaching out his hand for her. But it was too late; the brunette was already racing down the corridor.

"Loque!" she called out, running down the hallway. "Loque!" She got to the boy's room, and threw open the door. The door _clanged_ against the wall, bouncing back a bit. A few rooms away, a cry sounded out, but Hermione didn't notice; she was too busy rushing towards her sobbing son. "Loque, sweetheart, what's wrong?"

The five year old boy sobbed, shaking his head as his mother wrapped her arms around him. "Had a bad dream."

Hermione kissed the top of his head and pulled him from the covers, setting him firmly in her lap. "A nightmare? Oh, Loque, baby, it's only a dream. It's not real, okay?"

The boy sniffled. "But Daddy was dead! And it was -hic- scary!"

Her grip on the child tightened as she spoke again. "Well then why don't you tell me about it, Loque? Hmm? Tell me all about it. Because it's not real, sweetheart. And I'll prove it to you."

He nodded. "Okay. Well, -sniff- there was a _really_ big snake. And it was scary and scaly!" He wrinkled his nose a bit, his tears slowing. "I'm scared of snakes! And it crawled out of a bouncy ball and onto the floor."

Hermione gave a small laugh. "A bouncy ball? Was it a pretty color?"

But Loque just shook his head. "No, it was clear, and floating and scary, and it was right next to a creepy man. He looked scary too, mummy. And he was talking to the snake."

An odd feeling of deja vu began to creep up inside Hermione as she looked down at her son. "Uh-huh," she said, her voice raspy. She licked her lips, suddenly afraid to hear the rest of the tale. "Go on."

"And then the snake crawled up to Daddy-"

"Slithered, sweetie," she couldn't resist correcting. "Snakes don't crawl. They slither."

"Well the scary man went away and the snake bit Daddy! And he fell over, and Uncle Harry talked to him for a minute, and then he died," Loque said, beginning to cry once more. "Daddy died!"

Hermione briefly shut her eyes, surprised and worried by her son's dream. "Don't worry, Loque. Daddy's still alive, okay? He's alive, and he love's you, and he's happy, and-"

"What the _bloody_ hell are you two doing!" Severus shouted, stepping into the room. He was wearing only a pair of black pajama bottoms, and his air was sticking up at an odd angle. In his arms he held a sobbing Aria.

"Daddy!" Loque cried out, jumping off of his mother's lap. He raced over to his father and wrapped his arms around him. "Daddy!"

Severus looked startled for a moment, his eyes trained down on his son, before he glared back up at Hermione. "You woke our daughter up," he seethed through his teeth. "And now she won't stop _crying_."

Hermione reached over and took the child from him, sighing. She met his gaze evenly, her eyes solemn. "Well, yes. But, Severus. We need to talk. Put Loque to bed while I take care of Aria, and then meet me in the kitchen. We have a lot to discuss."

* * *

Nearly half an hour later, Severus yawned as he stepped smoothly down the stairs and into the kitchen. Gratefully, he accepted the cup of tea that his wife offered him, and sat down with a sigh. "How is it that it took me longer to put _Loque_, a five year old _boy_, to bed than it took for you to tuck in a sobbing two year old girl?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Did Loque tell you, then?"

Severus gave a small nod. "He did."

"And what do you make of it?"

He considered, tilting his head briefly to the side. "It's a very... accurate, if childish, depiction of the events that partook ten years ago."

"Well, Loque is a child," Hermione muttered, rolling her eyes. "What do you think this dream means, though?"

He hesitated, tracing the handle of his mug with his thumb as he slowly spoke. "I'm not sure it really means anything," he admitted. "His dream was about past events, so he's not a seer... Truly, it may just be nothing."

Hermione frowned. "That _can't_ just be nothing! It was too accurate!"

"Nothing more than an early manifestation of power," Severus elaborated. "He might be showing us -without meaning to - that he's going to be a wizard; that he has power."

"That doesn't make sense! When I had power manifestation, I kept conjuring new pencils when mine broke! I didn't have _visions _of the past!"

"But your parents weren't, arguably, two of the brightest wizards to have ever graced the halls of Hogwarts," Severus pointed out.

Hermione snorted. "So modest."

"Not to mention," he continued, ignoring her interruption. "That the ten year anniversary of the 'Final Battle,' as it's come to be known, is in three days. A battle which, need I remind you, we both played an integral part in."

Hermione nodded. "So?"

"So our heightened emotions plus Loque's brewing power plus our own great levels of magic may have, in effect, accidentally brought this vision upon him."

Hermione sighed, pushing her own mug of tea away from her. "So you really think this may be nothing more than power manifestation?"

Severus hesitated once again. "Well... yes. Of course, I can't be sure. We'll have to wait a few days and see if anything else happens."

* * *

Sorry for the long wait; I was really busy working on my NaNo novel! I'm almost at 60,000 words... but I need to hit 90,000 because I want to give it to my boyfriend for Christmas. Argh! *eye twitches* I've still got a month until Christmas. I can do it!

Check out my new oneshot Graduated, which is a funny and short story about some of our favorite NextGen characters!

Thank you in advance for the reviews! They give me incentive to keep on writing. Thank you to the reviewers from my last chapter: middlekertz, Larisa, TheTragedyIs13, brilliantblonde, and sarabqh. I really appreciate them all!

Thank you!

-Selene


	50. Bouncing

_Bouncing_

It took more than a few days, however, for Severus to be proven correct; no, the Snape parents had almost given up hope that Loque's "vision" had been a form of power manifestation, and Hermione had begun to look into the different types of seers. She didn't _want_ Loque to be a seer; they were constantly being discriminated against, and she didn't want him to have that sort of difficult life.

Luckily for her, though, a month and a half after Loque's nightmare incident, her fears were proven to be false. It was an early Saturday afternoon. Severus was at the castle, meeting with Minerva in the hopes of planning out the basics of the next school year with her. Hermione sat inside at the kitchen table, reviewing her notes on various medieval curses as Aria sat besides her, coloring.

Loque, however, was outside in the backyard, playing by himself.

"You all right, sweetie?" Hermione called out to her son, checking up on him periodically to make sure he was okay.

"Yes, Mummy."

"Good. Let me know if you need any help," she said, flipping the page of the book she had in front of her.

"Okay."

"Mummy," Aria said, reaching over and tapping the arm of Hermione. "Mummy, where's Daddy?"

"He'll be home soon, sweetheart," Hermione said, leaning down to kiss the top of her daughter's head. "Don't worry, baby."

"But I want to show him my pi-ture," she said, her eyes wide with disappointment.

Hermione glanced down at the misshapen scribbles that covered the page. "They're very pretty, baby. I'm sure Daddy will _love_ to look at them." _I'm sure he'd rather have dinner with _Ron _then fake enthusiasm for child art,_ she thought to herself with amusement.

_Boing!_ Hermione's head snapped up as the new sound came from outside. "Okay," Aria said, oblivious to her mother's sudden distress. "I wanna show Daddy when he gets home."

"Uh-huh," Hermione said quickly, before she called out. "Loque? Loque, what's going on."

"Nothing, Mum," Loque groaned. "I'm just playing." _Boing_.

"Mummy," Aria said, tugging on Hermione's sleeve. "Mummy, you're not looking!"

"Sorry, baby," Hermione said, glancing down at the page. "It's very nice."

"No! That's not it!" _Boing!_

"Loque! Loque, you better not be throwing anything against the house!"

"Mum, Rob and I are being careful!" Loque called back. "I promise."

Hermione jumped to her feet, grabbing her wand from the table in front of her. _Who the bloody hell-_ She hurried out to the backyard, unaware that Aria was following after her, waddling as she tried to keep up. "Loque!" Hermione cried out, jumping through the door- And then she stopped. No one was there. "Loque," she said patiently. "Was there someone here?"

"Yeah, Rob," Loque said with a smile.

She knelt down next to her child, putting her hand on her shoulder. "Loque! You shouldn't talk to strangers! You should have come inside and gotten me when someone came into the yard, do you understand-"

"No, Mummy," Loque said, shaking his head furiously. "It's _make-believe_."

Hermione paused, taken aback. "What's make-believe."

"Rob," he answered, giving her a quick nod. "Rob is make-believe."

"Mummy!" Aria cried out, wrapping her arms around her mother's legs. "Why you go?"

She reached down, pulling her child up into her arms. "I'm sorry, baby," she said, smoothing her daughters hair. She glanced down at Loque. "Why would you make someone up?"

Loque shrugged. "It's no fun to play catch up yourself!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Catch?"

"Yeah," Loque said happily. "Watch!" Picking up the blue bouncy ball that lay by his feet, Loque turned around and chucked it as hard as he could towards the house.

"Loque Snape-" Hermione started to yell out, but she stopped as the ball failed to hit the house, but instead bounced back towards the boy. "Oh," Hermione said with a sigh. "Well."

"See," Loque said with a grin. "Now I'm a wizard like Daddy! I can do magic!"

"Oh, yes," Hermione said, leaning down to give her son a one-armed hug. "And I'm so proud of you, Loque. This may just be the only time in history that this cliché will bring good news, but just wait until your father gets home!"

* * *

I know it's been forever, but finals are on their way! Hopefully, I'll have a new chapter up in a few days! I'll give you a hint, though. It's called cheating...

Check out my new oneshot Graduated, which is a funny and short story about some of our favorite NextGen characters!

Also check out my Hermione/Severus oneshot Black Velvet. It's canon, but it brings a unique twist to their relationship...

Thank you in advance for the reviews! They give me incentive to keep on writing. Thank you to the reviewers from my last chapter: middlekertz, Larisa, TheTragedyIs13, brilliantblonde, and sarabqh. I really appreciate them all!

Thank you!

-Selene


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